(Ambassador Liu Listening to Rolls-Royce's Chief Operating Officer Mike J Terrett)

On June 27th to 28th, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and his wife visited East Midlands. They visited businesses including Rolls-Royce and Boots and joined the local entrepreneurs in a discussion to exchange views on boosting the economic and trade cooperation between China and the region.

(Ambassador Liu with Rolls-Royce's Chief Operating Officer Mike J Terrett and others)

At Rolls-Royce, Ambassador Liu listened to the presentations of Chief Operating Officer Mike J Terrett and other leaders and had in-depth discussions with them on promoting the cooperation between the Chinese side and the company in the fields including aviation. Ambassador Liu and his colleagues also visited the company's workshop of aircraft engines and history museum and attended the welcoming dinner. Ambassador Liu said in his remarks at the dinner that Rolls-Royce is an internationally prestigious company and has long been engaged in cooperation with China. China, as the largest emerging economy, has a huge potential in its aviation market. The Ambassador hoped that Rolls-Royce would further deepen its cooperation with China and take the mutually beneficial cooperation between China and the UK to a new level.

(Ambassador Liu Visiting Rolls-Royce)

Ambassador Liu and his wife also met with the participants in the 28th CAAC Seminar for Young and Middle-aged Managers receiving their trainings at Rolls-Royce. Ambassador Liu said that excellent professionals are indispensible for the development of civil aviation and the young and middle-aged participants are key to China's civil aviation and shoulder a heavy responsibility. The UK not only has unique advantages in aviation technology but also leads in the management systems and ideas. The Ambassador hoped that the participants would make full use of this opportunity to learn professional technologies and talk to people of various sectors to learn advanced experience, so as to make greater contribution to the development of the civil aviation in China after they return.

(Ambassador Liu Meeting with Participants of CAAC Seminar)

At Boots, Executive chairman Stefano Pessina and other leaders briefed Ambassador Liu and his wife on the company's history and cooperation with China, and expressed the hope to strengthen cooperation with the Chinese side and further expand its business in China. Ambassador Liu and his colleagues also visited the company's production and distribution workshops of health and beauty products.

(Ambassador Liu Visiting Boots Headquarters)

Ambassador Liu and his wife also attended the East Midlands Business Discussion Session held by UKTI. The Ambassador said at the Session that East Midlands, as one of the important manufacturing centres in the UK, has strong international competitiveness with its concentrated industries, advanced technologies. China hopes to build on the industry advantages of the region to promote the China-UK cooperation in various forms including technology R&D, personnel training, design and manufacturing in the fields of aircraft, high-speed railway and automobiles, and to help the bilateral economic and trade cooperation score new achievements. The local entrepreneurs welcomed Ambassador Liu and his wife. They believed that this visit demonstrated the weight China puts on the development of cooperation with the region and that under the joint efforts of both sides, the economic and trade cooperation between the region and China would achieve more practical results.

UKTI Sectors Group Managing Director Edward Oakden, Deputy Chair Steve Brown of the East Midlands Development Agency and Counsellor Li Feng from the Commercial Section of the Chinese Embassy participated in the relevant activities.

(Ambassador Liu in Discussion with Entrepreneurs in East Midlands)