Civic chiefs in Gloucester have been wooing cash-rich investors from China in the hope of building on the back of the city’s recent regeneration.
Earlier this month a delegation of “senior officials” from China’s Zhejiang province visited Gloucester City Council who wanted to advertise the city as somewhere to invest.
It comes after a trade visit by Prime Minster Theresa May to China earlier this year which, it is hoped, will foster further links between the two nations.
A group of six influential Chinese provincial leaders took part in the meeting, led by the Director of the Zhejiang Provincial Development and Reform Commission, Tan Xieliang.
The visit was arranged by the Gloucestershire based firm, Join In China, which specialises in building trade links between the UK, China and Hong Kong.
Gloucester City Councillor Paul James, leader of Gloucester City Council, said: “Gloucester presents massive investment opportunities for Chinese firms, be it within our flagship city centre regeneration schemes or alongside our diverse business community.
“The visit was a good opportunity to build a working relationship with Chinese government officials, which will hopefully lead to increased economic engagement.”
The delegation also met Natalie Wadley and Luke Wadley from Gloucester-based ChangeMaker3D, who are pioneering 3D design in the field of modular house building.
The Chinese delegates learned about this highly innovative digital technology, and will explore opportunities for Chinese businesses to get involved with the firm.
The Chinese delegation, the city council and ChangeMaker 3D look to build on the meeting and to create economic ties between the two areas.
Gloucester's regeneration
Where is Zhejiang?
Zhejiang lies on China’s east coast, ovelooking the East China Sea, and south of the city of Shanghai.
It has a population of more than 55,600,000 people and it’s largest city, has more than 3 million people living in it.
One of the richest provinces in the Far Eastern nation, it gross domestic product (GDP) of US$767 billion and makes up more than six per cent of the country’s total GDP.
According to Wikipedia, Zhejiang's main manufacturing sectors are electromechanical industries, textiles, chemical industries, food, and construction materials.
In recent years Zhejiang has followed its own development model, dubbed the "Zhejiang model", which is based on prioritizing and encouraging entrepreneurship, an emphasis on small businesses responsive to the whims of the market, large public investments into infrastructure, and the production of low-cost goods in bulk for both domestic consumption and export.
As a result, Zhejiang has made itself one of the richest provinces, and the "Zhejiang spirit" has become something of a legend within China.
However, some economists now worry that this model is not sustainable, in that it is inefficient and places unreasonable demands on raw materials and public utilities, and also a dead end, in that the myriad small businesses in Zhejiang producing cheap goods in bulk are unable to move to more sophisticated or technologically more advanced industries.
