LinkChinese UK News

The Foreign and Commonwealth Office revealed on 30 June the updated designs for the British Pavilion at Shanghai Expo 2010. Developed by one of the UK’s leading talents, Thomas Heatherwick, the UK Pavilion will provide a dramatic demonstration of creativity and innovation in the UK.

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From CIOB website:

In a unique event organised by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) construction professionals from the Beijing Olympics 2008 meet their counterparts on the London 2012 project.

The workshop brings together CIOB members from China that managed the construction process of the Beijing Olympics with UK members working on the London 2012 games.

This is the first time that construction managers from Olympic projects have come together to share their experiences and knowledge. The meeting which takes place on the London 2012 site on the 25 June will include presentations by both sets of managers, networking and a site tour.

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David Reid, Tesco Chairman, in a 48 Group Club Young Icebreaker lecture to Scottish young people on Monday 2nd March, backs the Prime Minister’s statement made in January 2009 where Premier Gordon Brown wrote, “If we are to make the most of our relationship with China, we need to understand China better, through our schools, universities, cultural institutions, our businesses and in Government. I am determined to do that”.

David Reid pointed up advantages in Scotland: “In opportunities for learning about China, young people have an advantage in Scotland. The Scottish China Education Network, led by Dr. Judith McClure, has shown what determined leadership can achieve by creating in Scotland a focus on the need to raise understanding of China and inspire the learning of Mandarin.”

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Lu Ning’s comment first appered on the Guardian.

While the financial crisis is deepening and spreading, attention is turning to the east. A cartoon in the Australian shows a character saying that western capitalists are looking for eastern socialists to save them.

To Kevin Rudd, the Australian prime minister, this is not a joke. He argued during a Radio Australia interview that the steady growth of China’s economy would be extremely helpful for getting Australia out of the financial crisis.

According to the International Monetary Fund’s economic forecast published last week, most western countries are facing recession next year, while China’s economy will keep growing at 9%. Rudd believes this is good news for Australia. China’s demands for ore, coal and other materials has fuelled the growth of Australia in the recent years. At the moment, China is Australia’s largest trading partner.

Last week’s announcement of interest rates cuts by China was part of a coordinated effort by the world’s central banks. It was seen by most media commentators not as a necessary step to protect China’s financial system, but as a signal showing China’s willingness to take more responsibilities on the international stage.

It is obvious to China that in economic, political and diplomatic terms, it is now in good position in relation to Australia, US and Europe.

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The Times Ginny McGrath reports the new trends of Chinese restaurants, the use of MSG, and locally sourced ingradients.

If the mention of a Chinese meal conjures up images of lurid chunks of deep fried chicken, it’s time for a rethink.

The Asian cuisine, whose love affair with most Britons extends to nothing more wholesome than crispy seaweed and sweet and sour prawns, is undergoing something of a revolution. Restaurants specialising in regional Chinese cuisine, and not in the ubiquitous, greasy western version, are flourishing.

…there’s an ill-conceived presumption that all ingredients are imported from Asia, accumulating heinous food miles. But in reality, many restaurants will source produce locally simply because it is cheaper. “Without realising it, or advertising it, they [Chinese restaurants in England] will use a lot of locally sourced produce,” says Ching-He Huang, author of a contemporary Chinese cookbook, China Modern, and presenter of Ching’s Kitchen on UKTV Food.

While some Asian seasonings and vegetables cannot be sourced from within the UK, meat and fish are of course available here, and increasingly farmers are experimenting with growing Asian vegetables in the UK.

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From FT.com, by Robin Kwong in Hong Kong

A new wave of Chinese diaspora is set to create fresh markets for Chinese media across south-east Asia, North America and Europe, according to the chief executive of one of the world’s biggest Chinese-language publishers.

Francis Tiong, chief executive of Media Chinese International, which has a global circulation of more than 1m for its five daily newspapers, said there is a new wave of migration from China that is driven by the younger Chinese generation.

“The younger generation is increasingly being educated overseas, and despite many doing business in China, they are sending their families overseas . . . Increasingly you have cities with Chinese populations reaching 300,000-400,000, which I think warrants a Chinese language newspaper or media,” Mr Tiong told the Financial Times.

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Guardian’s Angelique Chrisafis reports from Paris:

This year Paris’s boutiques and tour firms have become the latest casualties of the diplomatic row surrounding the Olympic torch protests, as Chinese tourists boycott France as a holiday destination after warnings that it is unpatriotic.

Advice to Chinese tourists to stay away from France after pro-Tibet protests in Paris has been circulating on Chinese-language websites and has resulted in cancellations that tour operators in France say could lead to a 50% drop in business.

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Scotsman newspaper interviews Christian Hogg, founder and chief executive of Hutchison China MediTech (Chi-Med), which develops Chinese medicines and healthcare products, and bring them to the Western market.

Hogg, who grew up in Jedburgh and went to school at George Watson’s College in Edinburgh, founded Chi-Med in 2000 and became its chief executive in 2006, when the company floated on London’s alternative investment market (Aim).

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Mark Kleinman reports in Sunday Telegraph about Financial Times’s publisher, Pearson’s expansion in China. According to the report, Pearson’s plan includes the purchase of LEC, a group of private schools in Shanghai, and the launch of a Chinese-language magazine Rui targeting Chinese business elite.

The deal, likely to be announced this week, underlines Pearson’s aim to expand its Chinese operations as the country’s economic growth presents opportunities for foreign companies. Demand for English language tuition is at an all-time high in mainland China as a result of the country’s continuing integration into the global economy.

China currently accounts for less than 1 per cent of Pearson’s revenues. The group, led by Marjorie Scardino, its chief executive, is keen to tap into the rapid growth in Chinese education spending. Government expenditure is rising at an annual rate of about 15 per cent, while private education spending is growing even more rapidly, at about 25 per cent.

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Xinhua News Agency reports:

BEIJING, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) — A China Tourism Association official suggested on Saturday that Chinese tourists avoid shopping in the Paris-based Galeries Lafayette.

The unnamed official said the association was concerned about an incident where two Chinese tourists were treated insultingly while shopping in the famed French department store.

“We are discontent and regretted that Chinese tourists were treated so rudely in Paris. We suggest travelers not to go shopping in the store before the incident is properly handled.”

He asked domestic travel agencies to suspend organizing tourists to visit Lafayette.

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