• Prospecting Hebei

Traditional Chinese values and an upbeat acknowledgement of the province's need to engage with foreigners in order to catch up with the rest of China should encourage UK plc to search out opportunities in Hebei for themselves, as Brian Finch, who visited the province recently, writes.

Hebei province is oddly shaped. It is wrapped around the two major municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin, and comprises mountains, flat plains and two significant stretches of coastline in the Bohai Sea separated by the Tianjin coast. Hebei just happens to be roughly the same size as the United Kingdom.

Its proximity to the nation's capital brings advantages. Hebei is "the capital's back garden"; providing as it does agricultural produce. More recently, it is becoming recognised as the major supplier of all kinds of scientific, technical and industrial support.

With the imminent transformation of Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, there is now talk of an emerging "greater Beijing"; encompassing Beijing itself as well as Tianjin and several of Hebei's major cities like Shijiazhuang, Baoding and Cangzhou.

Since it is so close to Beijing, the province's highly developed infrastructure - including its network of fast motorways and railways with linkages from the capital across China - demonstrates practically its own special position.

And for those wedded to statistical output, Hebei has over 15m phones (mobile and landline) with more than 2m users of digital communications and a network based on fibre optic cables at its core, supplemented with microwave and satellite links.

Official publications speak only of great progress and huge strides forward, of course. And, true, it is difficult to get away from the influence of the Chinese Communist Party's propaganda apparatus – especially in the province that has Xi Bai Po, the home to Chairman Mao's last pre-liberation headquarters before the final advance on Beijing in 1949.

But despite this instinct for sticking to the Party line on paper, officials at every level - in private and in public - speak readily of Hebei's economic problems and their wish to improve their financial acumen. They are willing and eager to be steered toward the best Western business methodologies and practices, which is why there are so many good opportunities for British business.

Admittedly, some of the harsh lessons of China trade this past decade are having a negative effect on foreign investors less keen to invest money on trust and goodwill. "Foreigners"; are becoming more hard-nosed. They want to see real, evidence-based business plans. Hebei clearly appreciates that it needs to woo foreign capital with genuine prospects of real, cash profits. Officials now understand that foreigners will want to make profits out of Hebei.

Zang Shengye, Shijiazhuang city's mayor, recently spoke with an international group of visiting overseas Chinese on a tour of Hebei province. Mayor Zang said that he recognised that development in Hebei and in Shijiazhuang was not as fast as it could be. He reiterated the province's need for foreign investors and he accepted that they (the investors) should be handled with care.

A shopping list of business prospects would be too long and, as readers of the Review may know, Hebei publishes its standard list of investment projects, copies of which can be obtained relatively easily. Most industrial and commercial sectors are catered for, but here is my list of "immediates":
• Pharmaceuticals. Hebei's principal city, Shijiazhuang, is a mixture of the new and the traditional. It also happens to be a major centre for their burgeoning pharmaceutical industry, boasting as it does China's largest pharmaceutical plant.
• Culture. Hebei is a major centre for Chinese culture. It is very keen to show this off to the rest of the world. In particular: traditional arts and crafts; cultural artefacts; and in the performing arts spectacular song and dance productions.
• Education. There is a massive requirement for English language training and, consequently, a great demand for native English speaking teachers. They are especially keen to welcome retired teachers looking for new experiences and young graduates keen to travel across China. There are large numbers of Hebei students looking to study in the UK as well as universities keen to operate exchanges with their British counterparts.
• Minerals. Hebei has major resources waiting to be exploited as well as hundreds of companies keen to do business with the UK.
• Consultancy. There is a mind-boggling array of fascinating opportunities in the service sector for professionals willing to provide advice and training on international business practices. Inevitably, the market for these services is rapidly increasing following China's accession to the WTO.

There was, however, just one aspect of Hebei and its people which struck home immediately. It made me realise how large and varied such business opportunities can become, especially if we recognise everyone's interest in doing business here in the UK. Put bluntly, for a country that is only recently waking up from the bureaucracy of a centrally run economy, their natural ebullience and entrepreneurial enthusiasm will, more than likely, overwhelm our rather staid, limp efforts to conduct business over there.

Brian Finch is a member of CBBC and managing director of EastBridge Associates, which he set up when he retired from the diplomatic service.


The gang of four
Journeying around Hebei was a delight, not least for the comfort in which we travelled on the buses. To cater for our every need, there was a team of four – count 'em – looking after us on every bus:
1. The captain. An official in the provincial government who used her knowledge of policy and pre-planning with admirable efficiency, as well as making the occasional speech for our benefit.
2. The yuppie. The bus manager. A thoroughly energetic, controlling influence in her late twenties, who organised everyone to her obvious advantage and pleasure.
3. The gofer. A most original position. She was the official carrier of the board displaying our bus's number. Whenever we needed to assemble off the bus, as it were, her marshalling of us as her charges was clear and unequivocal. And when she wasn't holding our number aloft the yuppie took full advantage of the gofer's willingness to go for whatever was expected.
4. And finally, the master. A wonderful title to describe his key role as the
driver.
And there you have it, four professionals each with a defined role determined to ensure that their charges (us) were on time, in line – right where they wanted us – in serried ranks as dutiful passengers.


Traffic jam? What traffic jam?
30th August 2002. It is evening and a convoy of 10 large Kässerbohrer coaches accompanied by several cars with senior officials and led by police with sirens blazing and car lights flashing, cuts a swathe through the packed Beijing traffic – like a knife through softened butter. A practical example of how the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau effectively and comprehensively implements its "open road"; scheme for the important visitors in the coaches.

As our convoy drove smoothly across town from the Grand Continent Hotel to attend a luxury banquet at the Beijing Hotel just off Tiananmen Square every road junction was blocked by policemen ensuring that we would enjoy an uninterrupted and uninterruptible journey.

A positively memorable experience for those of us lucky enough to enjoy this particular privilege, as this special treatment – normally afforded to senior Chinese leaders – was because the All-China Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese had joined forces with the Hebei provincial government to host an all-expenses paid exhaustive tour of Hebei for over 300 overseas Chinese from 27 different countries around the globe – and me.

Zhao Xuemei, who had organised the very select UK delegation – just the four of us – runs the UK Hebei Province Acquaintances Association. Apart from Zhao Xuemei and myself, the others were Lin Guang and Wang Miao, both originally from Mainland China who moved to the UK in recent years.

I discovered part way through the visit that my own participation had (perhaps not surprisingly) created some controversy. Ma Damin, chairman of the Hebei Province Overseas Chinese Association, had initially turned me down, as he was concerned that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs would raise objections just in case the British Embassy decided to complain that one of its non-Chinese citizens (and a former diplomat to boot) was to be treated as an overseas Chinese.

However, Zhao Xuemei's high-level provincial connections, together with her persuasive nature, infinite charm and endless patience, won the day. She argued that as I was a fluent Chinese speaker, I should have no problem fitting in with the group. In any case, she advised that as honorary adviser to the UK Hebei Association, I deserved a place.

Activities included a ceremony to unveil a plaque at Xi Bai Po, the last base occupied by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communist Party Headquarters before the final move to Beijing in 1949. I have now visited the offices of Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De and others.

This plaque marked a new(ish) commemorative building, described as the "Xi Bai Po Patriotic Educational Base";, which houses a museum with historic photographs, maps and other memorabilia. I noted with a degree of detached curiosity that the plaque was dated 2001. On making discreet enquiries, I discovered the same plaque is unveiled for every group of important visitors.

The following day, we lined up in our 10 coach groups in the main square in front of the Shijiazhuang Museum. As we assembled, we were greeted by hundreds of ordinary townspeople including schoolchildren. A typical Shijiazhuang welcome I gather, which was accompanied by three troupes in ancient military uniform playing drums and cymbals.

Playing enthusiastically for over half an hour, they leapt about with great energy and huge enjoyment - both theirs and ours. The crescendo not only deafened us, it quite literally shook the ground beneath our feet. This warm and utterly memorable welcome was extended by several speeches before we could enjoy an exhibition demonstrating the contribution made to the Motherland by overseas Chinese in the 20th century.

Most of the visitors continued their tour of Hebei in three separate groups. However, I stayed on in Shijiazhuang for business discussions and caught up with them for their last night in Beijing. The inspection tours included visits to various factories and investment projects.

The authorities had a serious purpose in laying on such a lavish tour - primarily to encourage the overseas Chinese to invest in the Motherland in general and in Hebei province in particular. There are many good business opportunities in Hebei and the British delegation signed several letters of intent.

The visit from my perspective was well worth the effort. I made some valuable business as well as political contacts there. My own business, EastBridge Associates, will shortly be opening a representative office in Shijiazhuang. But in a wider context, the provincial authorities are going to have to up the ante quite considerably if they are really serious about attracting business and foreign capital.

Hebei undoubtedly has much to offer, and lavish hospitality will help generate interest. But the provincial government needs to employ the language and culture of Western business, its target audience, for real investment to be secured. In other words, use Western methods.