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• History: China-Britain Trade Group to China-Britain Business Council
As China has grown, so the work of the CBBC has expanded and diversified, writes Janet Kealey.
When China-Britain Trade Group opened its doors for the first time in January 1991 its task was to bring together two very different cultures: one privately funded serving a limited number of companies and the other publicly funded, serving the whole of British industry. The Council decided to open many events and services to all companies, members and non-members, but some were exclusive to members.
There was no lull in activities: an airports seminar group travelled to China in February and a chemicals seminar took place in York in March. By June 1991, CBTG had a membership of 100 British companies, large and small, paying an annual subscription.
After Sir Michael Palliser became president of CBTG in 1992, the CBTG Council decided to expand the China offices, and they were given a more active role in pursuing business leads. Businessmen were appointed as chief representatives. This policy led to the opening of offices in Guangzhou and Wuhan.
The early 1990s saw a renewal of high-level visitors from China to the UK, including vice-premiers Li Lanqing and Zou Jiahua and foreign trade minister Wu Yi, all of whom attended CBTG events. On their own visits to China, CBTG presidents met Chinese leaders and were able to lobby them on British business interests. In 1992 Zhu Rongji was the first Chinese vice-premier to take part in a seminar with British business in the UK, when the Stock Exchange was the venue for presentations from privatised industries, organised by CBTG and the Stock Exchange. From that time, business-related events have been organised for most visiting Chinese leaders.
The biggest events of the mid-1990s were the huge groups of business people (130- and 250-strong) taken to China by Michael Heseltine, as trade minister in 1995, then as deputy prime minister in 1996. CBTG was involved in organising the business groups.
Sir Peter Cazalet, chairman of APV, took over CBTG's presidency in 1996. It was a time when CBTG's China offices were being under-used, and the Council took the decision to start a service providing British companies new to China with CBBC staff and office facilities to get them off to a flying start. Visiting CBTG Beijing that year, Michael Heseltine coined a name for this service: the "China Launchpad". Since then over 100 companies have made use of this invaluable service. Offices were opened in Chengdu in 1996, followed by Qingdao and Shenzhen in 2001, and next month a seventh office, in Nanjing, will open its doors.
After a cooling between the two countries in the mid-1990s, the successful return of Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty in 1997 led to a restoration of warm relations between the UK and China. Less than a month after his appointment as premier in 1998, Zhu Rongji was back in the UK, where a CBTG dinner in London's Guildhall attracted 900 guests.
In October 1991 CBTG took its first of many multi-sector trade missions to China, with a programme of individual meetings for each participant. Every year CBTG ran several trade missions and technical seminars to China in key sectors of industry.
From 1992 financial services became an increasingly strong sector. CBTG's co-operation with British Invisibles (now IFSL) resulted in the setting up of a strong joint committee which has formed close links with China's financial sector. Ties with Chinese agriculture, which had been strong in the early days of the Sino-British Trade Council, were re-established in 1995, and stepped up in 1998. The radical restructuring of Chinese industry led to new sectors and subjects becoming prominent, such as retailing, and the environmental sector.
Meanwhile in the UK, CBTG's promotion of opportunities in China continued throughout. In its first year, there began a nationwide programme of seminars and conferences. Since then every year has seen briefings around the country for groups of exporters, and meetings with Chinese industrial and provincial leaders. Conferences and seminars have informed business about sectors, and issues such as China's impending WTO membership. There was so much interest in China north of the border that in 1994 a CBTG Scotland office was opened, with Lord Weir, vice-president of CBTG and chairman of Weir Group, at the head. The office is still a vital part of CBBC's UK operations. In 2000 a North East regional office opened in Newcastle.
After running CBTG for the first eight years of its existence, its director, John Beyer, left in 1999 to join the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Peter Nightingale, with many years of experience working in Hong Kong and China, became the new chief executive.
Sir Charles (now Lord) Powell, a former foreign affairs adviser to UK prime ministers, Margaret Thatcher and John Major, took over the presidency in 1998. At the same time the decision was taken to change CBTG's name to China-Britain Business Council, to reflect more accurately the increasing diversity of the organisation's activities to promote trade, business and investment.
Immediately after his appointment Lord Powell participated in the business delegation which accompanied Prime Minister Tony Blair on his first visit to China. And in November 1999 the UK received the first visit by a head of state from the People's Republic, Jiang Zemin. The China-Britain Business Council's Banqueting House business lunch for the president was proof, if any was needed, of the Council's place at the head of UK trade promotion in China.
New priority trade sectors for China have since been identified at CBBC: education, leisure, branding, and communications technologies. Education missions have been run twice yearly, often greatly over-subscribed. In March 2001 CBBC launched the Communication Technologies Forum, to assist companies in the sector to enter the Chinese market.
Most companies looking to trade or invest overseas will now consider China. For CBBC this has meant more work, more members and an exponential growth in the use of its research services. In the late 1990s CBBC became the co-ordinator of the government's tailored market information service – being just one of the ways in which CBBC co-operates closely with government as its partner in delivering trade development services to UK business.
In April 2001 a new structure for CBBC membership was introduced, with three categories of membership depending on company size. There are now 400 members.
After many years of discussion the relationship between CBBC and government was defined in a groundbreaking service-level agreement, setting out the respective roles of CBBC and Trade Partners UK (now UK Trade and Investment) in 2002.
The CBBC staff has grown from 11 in UK and three in China in 1991 to 27 in UK and 25 in China today. Over the years, the staff have of necessity become more specialised, but on big occasions all are still required to contribute. Though the pioneering feel of the early years has gone, and China has changed beyond all recognition, CBBC is still filling a vital role of informing, advising, and organising services for British business in China.
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