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Delegation Reports
APPCG Delegation to Shanghai and Beijing
9 - 16 October 2010 Report by Mark Hendrick MP Delegation I led a delegation of nine members of the All Party Parliamentary China Group (APPCG) to Shanghai and Beijing as part of our annual exchange mechanism with the National People’s Congress. The visit – sponsored by the British Group of the IPU - not only provided a valuable opportunity for cross-parliamentary dialogue, but also presented APPCG members with a chance to update their own knowledge and understanding of a country which continues to transform itself at lightning pace. The delegation arrived first in Shanghai, where the World Expo formed the focus of our discussions. The Expo is the largest ever to be held and has presented the UK with an opportunity to promote itself as a hub of innovation and creativity. The delegates joined the eight million visitors who saw the bold design of the British Pavilion up close over the Expo’s six-month duration, and while the award-winning design is something of an acquired taste, it has nevertheless proved a successful investment and makes a confident statement in support of British commercial engagement in China. The Shanghai leg of our visit also presented the opportunity to hear from British companies who are prospering in the region. Cambridge Assessment spoke to the group about China’s educational system and their role in catering for the growing demand for English language qualifications. English is a valuable asset for young jobseekers in China – seven million graduates entered the job market in 2010 – and with 300 million Chinese learning the language there are clear opportunities for engagement by British educational institutions. The group also met the Chief Executive of GlaxoSmithKline, Andrew Witty, at a research facility in Shanghai for discussion about the future of innovation in China and the role of Intellectual Property protection. In Beijing, the focus of our programme was engagement with government and legislative counterparts. It was clear from our discussions that the bilateral relationship enjoys a healthy momentum (as evidenced by the frequency of high-level exchanges) based on a solid economic partnership and fruitful co-operation across a range of sectors. Nevertheless, there are areas of tension, and our visit followed the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo. On this topic, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Fu Ying – who was previously Ambassador to the UK – called for greater understanding of China’s ongoing political development. In response to a question on climate change, Madame Fu commented that China was a country of action, and in this area it is no different. The challenge for China is to cater for rising expectations for living standards in a sustainable way, and Madame Fu suggested that greater co-operation with developed nations on sustainable technology presents the most effective answer. The theme of co-operation ran strong throughout our discussions, and one of the strongest areas of partnership is in the education sector. In our discussions with officials at the Ministry of Education, we heard of the healthy flow of young Chinese choosing to study in the UK, and considered initiatives to boost the number of students from the UK. In 2009 the number of British students at Chinese institutions was just a tenth of those going in the opposite direction. Efforts to rectify this imbalance – for example, encouragement for the provision of English language courses at Chinese institutions – will be discussed alongside other issues at the 5th bilateral education summit in November 2010, which is a useful channel through which government can support the positive efforts of educational institutions. The global economic environment formed the focus of much of our formal discussions with the National People’s Congress (NPC). While the impressive skylines we had seen during our visit were a dramatic reminder of China’s ongoing double digit growth, we were reminded that Shanghai and Beijing are not representative of the nation as a whole. While China has recently surpassed Japan to become the world’s second largest economy, it remains outside the top 100 in per capita terms, and we were asked to remember that China’s achievements are divided by 1.3 billion people. The delegates heard that the 12th Five Year Plan – which commences in 2011 – will seek to redress the imbalance between rural and urban areas as well as continuing to boost domestic demand and improve the efficiency of the national industrial base. Central to these aims, we were told, will be the incremental increase of the minimum salary and the development of welfare provision and health insurance for low paid workers. China’s responsibility as a global economic actor was also discussed at length, and my counterpart in the NPC, Chairman Zha Peixin, felt very strongly that the challenge of tackling income inequality across China was representative of the challenge facing the global economy as a whole. These discussions were complemented by a meeting with the China Investment Corporation (CIC) where our host and Chairman of the CIC Supervisory Board, Mr Jin Liqun, spoke positively of the prospects for long-term investment in the UK and of the potential for substantive partnership with British investors. In our meeting with Jiang Shusheng, Vice-Chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, we discussed our shared obligations as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. While China remains firm on its policy of mutual respect for sovereignty, there is nevertheless recognition of its duty as a guarantor of regional stability. In this context, we discussed North Korea, China’s relationship with Japan, and protection of interests in the South China Sea. These are pressing and delicate issues which are not easily solved, but it is clear that such discussion is more fruitful when taking place in the context of a strong and robust partnership.
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