We must tap into rich sea of opportunity (From Worcester News)
Get involved! Send your photos, video, news & views by texting WN NEWS to 80360 or e-mail us
We must tap into rich sea of opportunity
7:40am Friday 19th October 2012 in News By Tom Edwards
TRIP: Worcester MP Robin Walker during his trip to China.
WORCESTER MP Robin Walker says building relationships with growing world economies such as China is the best way Britain can get out of the doldrums.
Mr Walker has just returned from a trip to the Far East with a delegation from Worcestershire to explore trade opportunities.
He spent three days in Canton, a province in Southern China where the capital city Guangzhou has a population of 12 million, before heading to Nanning, a city with six million residents.
He visited large businesses in China and held talks with the Chinese Government’s foreign ministry on international trade links.
He said: “It was very much focused on international trade and in the main, we felt we’ve established a lot of good working relationships.
“The sheer size and scale of the opportunities in China are just staggering – there is a rich sea out there we can tap into. It was the first time I’d been out there since 1997 and what struck me is how remarkably capitalist the country is.
“One of the things I was shown was how they are planning to build a city for 1.5 million people over the next five years – that’s the incredible pace it is developing at.”
He talked to the Chinese Government’s department for education, as well as the department for trade and industry.
He said: “They took me to see a bioscience business at a Chinese technology park, and when I asked them how many people worked at the site, they said, ‘We’ve got 300,000 people based here and another 300,000 who commute in’, making it 600,000.
“I found that incredible, it’s the whole population of Worcestershire.”
The Chinese officials will be drawing up a list of possible twin cities Worcester-shire can be linked with to explore trade opportunities.
Comments(8)
mayall8808
says...
8:01am Fri 19 Oct 12
MJI
says...
8:25am Fri 19 Oct 12
mayall8808 wrote:Woke up the wrong side this morning then?
Hope you had a nice jolly at the taxpayers expense Mr Walker and this article is all very well but i don't think any locals will be commuting to work there any day soon but they would like this dictatorship of a government you belong to to create some jobs here.
.
Nothing wrong with trade missions.
MrsStJohns
says...
8:26am Fri 19 Oct 12
The Chinese economy has slowed for the past seven quarters
pronstar
says...
9:34am Fri 19 Oct 12
MrsStJohns wrote:The rate of growth in the Chinese economy has slowed recently but it is still growing.
Is Robin unable to keep up with the news?
The Chinese economy has slowed for the past seven quarters
The point is what do we in Worcestershire actually make that the Chinese could afford to buy from us?
More Tea Vicar
says...
10:15am Fri 19 Oct 12
pronstar wrote:Not a whole bunch.
MrsStJohns wrote:The rate of growth in the Chinese economy has slowed recently but it is still growing.
Is Robin unable to keep up with the news?
The Chinese economy has slowed for the past seven quarters
The point is what do we in Worcestershire actually make that the Chinese could afford to buy from us?
The problem with Trade Missions is that they tend to over-impress starry-eyed politicians.
Mr Walker would do better to focus on the very significant downsides of the Chinese economic model, such as human rights abuses, low quality infrastructure, and massive pollution.
But then again, Mr Walker is totally committed to paving over the county for housing, and is part of a government that has done NOTHING to curb immigration, and halt its effects on wages and job opportunities for our own people.
In short, I suspect the likes of Mr Walker might actually have no problem with the downsides of the Chinese economy.
Landy44
says...
10:15am Fri 19 Oct 12
1. China's economy is actually in decline, and is threatened by a significant property crash. BAD FOR US.
2. China's economy is doing what ours did - it's been moving slowly from a producer to a consumer as citizens gain more personal wealth POTENTIALLY GOOD FOR US (If we were building something to sell to them - they like our luxury brands, unfortunately we've sold off a lot of them to other countries!)
3. China has been buying up tangible assets in the form of foreign land, gold and silver bullion, and good foreign companies - LONGER TERM PUTS THEM IN A STRONG POSITION ECONOMICALLY BUT THEY HAVE SOME TROUBLE TO GO THROUGH FIRST - PROBABLY LIMITS SOME OF OUR OPPORTUNITIES LONGER TERM.
What we as a country actually need to do is start producing products and services that we can sell both locally and globally, without putting too much emphasis on any single country. Diversification. We need to do this without relying heavily on other countries to do that.
We also need to stop selling off what is left of the companies we have here and start incentivising company boards and CEOs to build for the longer term.
We are also great inventors and innovators, so lets put some effort there too for the long term.
A prediction: It's almost inevitable now with the economic and political meddling. We'll have to ride the roller coaster: Things will begin to look like they're picking up in the near/medium term future. Over time they will look like everything is going amazingly well and we may even surpass our previous highs. That will precede a crash the likes of which we haven't seen before. Currencies will collapse, and ultimately if we have sense we'll rebuild a more sensible value based economy instead of the debt based one we have today.
We don't need a jolly to China to tell us that.
What the government needs to do (but seeminly can't due to the prior governments debt legacy) is cut tax, remove the safety nets of welfare, reduce the size of the public sector and let business and individuals sort themselves out. It will be painful, but longer term it will make this country productive and stronger again.
/Rant mode off
The Doosra
says...
4:37pm Fri 19 Oct 12
More Tea Vicar wrote:Here we go: an article and discussion on trade missions ends up with a rant about immigration. Nurse! get the screens.
pronstar wrote:Not a whole bunch.
MrsStJohns wrote:The rate of growth in the Chinese economy has slowed recently but it is still growing.
Is Robin unable to keep up with the news?
The Chinese economy has slowed for the past seven quarters
The point is what do we in Worcestershire actually make that the Chinese could afford to buy from us?
The problem with Trade Missions is that they tend to over-impress starry-eyed politicians.
Mr Walker would do better to focus on the very significant downsides of the Chinese economic model, such as human rights abuses, low quality infrastructure, and massive pollution.
But then again, Mr Walker is totally committed to paving over the county for housing, and is part of a government that has done NOTHING to curb immigration, and halt its effects on wages and job opportunities for our own people.
In short, I suspect the likes of Mr Walker might actually have no problem with the downsides of the Chinese economy.
mayall8808
says...
8:23pm Fri 19 Oct 12
8:25am Fri 19 Oct 12
mayall8808 wrote:
Hope you had a nice jolly at the taxpayers expense Mr Walker and this article is all very well but i don't think any locals will be commuting to work there any day soon but they would like this dictatorship of a government you belong to to create some jobs here.
Woke up the wrong side this morning then?
.
Nothing wrong with trade missions.
No not at all if they achieve anything, YOU show me what it produced? after the taxpayer paid for it yet again, also you should read the other comments as they are quite right.
As More tea vicar says The problem with Trade Missions is that they tend to over-impress starry-eyed politicians.
Comment now! Register or sign in below.
Log in with us
Fields marked with * are mandatory.
Or
Log in with