On Saturday, 1 June, the Invest in China · Roundtable for Foreign Investment Promotion Agencies hosted by the Bureau of Investment Promotion of the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) was held during the 13th Central China Investment and Trade Expo (Expo Central China).  

Kiran Patel, Senior Director, China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), attended alongside other key trade and investment organisations representing other markets and delivered a speech highlighting where CBBC and our members see potential for further growth in the central China region.

The roundtable was chaired by Ling Ji, Vice Minister of Commerce and Deputy Representative for International Trade Negotiations. It was also attended by Liu Minqiang, Director General of CIPA and Li Dianxun, Deputy Secretary of the Hunan Provincial Party Committee, who also delivered welcome remarks.

Vice Minister Ling Ji said that the Chinese government has continued to open up to the outside world, continuously optimising the business environment, and effectively protecting foreign-invested enterprises' legitimate rights and interests. He also fed back that the Chinese government welcomes investment promotion agencies of all countries to actively participate in ‘Invest in China’ activities to enable foreign enterprises to gain a better understanding of China’s market and develop their plans to invest and grow. CBBC is pleased to know from our engagement with Vice Minister Ling that the Ministry of Commerce will continue supporting foreign investment promotion agencies to proactively develop programmes for our respective markets and we look forward to further engagement on this.
 

At the meeting, Kiran Patel affirmed the positive results achieved by the Chinese government in improving the business environment building on the 24 points and subsequent other initiatives taken since. He shared the experiences and challenges encountered by CBBC members doing business in China, while also presenting suggestions on their behalf.

On 31 May, CBBC also attended the 2024 Hunan Trade and Investment Promotion Global Partnership Conference organised by the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Hunan Sub-council (CCPIT Hunan) and signed a Friendship and Cooperation Agreement with the CCPIT Hunan.

In addition, during the Expo Central China, CBBC together with member companies RELX, InterContinental Hotels Group PLC, Deloitte, Reckitt, Chartered Institute of Certified Management Accountants (CIMA), The Tintometer Ltd — Lovibond®, and Zhongzhuo Wisdom UK Ltd, participated in meetings with government departments from some of the provinces. This included meetings with Zhou Haibing, Vice Governor of Hunan Province, Deputy Secretary of the Changsha Municipal Party Committee and Mayor of Changsha on 30 May, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Commerce, Zhao Jie, the Vice Mayor of Nanchang, and Yu Xiayuan, President of the Changsha CCPIT on 31 May.