Keeping the doors open

Nick Baird, CEO of UK Trade & Investment, says Chinese investment in the UK helps bring capital and job opportunities for the local economy. [Photo / China Daily]

Favorable policies have helped unlock the huge investment potential in the UK, says trade official, Cecily Liu reports

Transparency and a favorable environment for foreign investors have helped the United Kingdom attract more investment from China, says the top official of the British government responsible for inward investment.

"I think it's highly unlikely that any other developed country would be as open to investment, not just from China, but more generally, as we are," says Nick Baird, CEO of UK Trade & Investment.

Baird says that the current level of Chinese investment in the UK infrastructure sector is a good gauge of the transparency and openness in the country.

Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, an investment vehicle controlled by Chinese billionaire Li Ka-shing, owns British water utility Northumbrian Water Group Plc. Last year, China Investment Corp, the nation's sovereign wealth fund, bought a 10 percent stake in Heathrow Airport Holdings and an 8.68 percent stake in Thames Water Utilities Ltd.

More recently, British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced that the UK would allow Chinese companies to take majority stakes in British nuclear power plants.

Osborne's comments came after speculation that the British government would not allow Chinese companies to hold majority stakes in the French utility major EDF's planned power station at Hinkley Point, in Southwest England, for national security reasons.

"We are happy to involve Chinese companies in all aspects of our economy. So investing in Britain's nuclear industry is a good example, because you can't get any more sensitive than that," Baird says.

He says another example is the Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies Co Ltd' investments in the UK, which have not been shackled in any manner.

In September 2012, Huawei announced an additional investment of 1.3 billion pounds ($2.13 billion) in its UK operations over a five-year period to 2017. This will create 700 new jobs.

"Huawei is a very welcome investor in the UK. We are confident about the investments we have with Huawei. We are looking forward to them growing their investments even further," Baird says.

In comparison, Huawei has been barred from conducting any mergers and acquisitions in the United States after a House Intelligence Committee report warned last year that the company was a security threat.

Baird says he is glad to have witnessed many first-of-its-kind Chinese investments in the UK.

Citing examples, he says that Chinese fashion retailer Bosideng International Holdings Ltd has become the first Chinese fashion brand to open a flagship store in London, while Dalian Wanda Group became the first Chinese company to operate in the luxury sector after acquiring British yacht maker Sunseeker.