UK, Chinese businesses sign flurry of deals

British companies land agreements in healthcare, transport and entertainment at Shanghai festival

New partnerships in film, TV, healthcare and tourism between China and the United Kingdom will generate an estimated 150 million pounds (about $230 million) for the UK economy over the next five years, according to an announcement at the Great Festival of Creativity in Shanghai.

In his visit to China, the Duke of Cambridge Prince William toured the business exhibition of the festival at Long Museum in Shanghai, calling it a platform for Britain's "thriving creative sectors". He also attended the Chinese film premiere of Paddington and met the famous bear on the red carpet.

The festival, from March 2 to 4, promoted more than 500 British companies and displayed the nation's innovations in fashion, luxury retail, healthcare, technology and entertainment.

"Our creative industries are a highly valued asset to the UK - worth almost 80 billion pounds a year to our economy and employing 1.6 million people," says UK trade minister Ian Livingston.

"The festival offers opportunities to deepen collaboration and partnerships between the UK and China across a range of areas that benefit from our creativity."

Among the deals will be the launch of 17 Beijing-to-Birmingham flights this summer, estimated to bring 19 million pounds for the Birmingham and wider West Midlands economy, by the Birmingham Shuttlesworth International Airport, China's Hainan Airlines and Chinese tour operator Caissa Touristic.

A film production treaty was also signed between the UK and China to allow all eligible co-productions between the two nations to be shown in Chinese movie theaters. Currently, China allows only 34 revenue-sharing, international titles in Chinese cinemas each year.

China overtook Japan to become the second-largest film market in 2013 and is set to overtake the United States film industry by 2020.

In 2013, an average of 10 new cinema screens were added every day in China, which had a total of 13,000 at the time. The country is home to one of the largest film studios in the world and its film industry grew 36 percent in 2013.

Digital media, animation and the video games industries have also grown quickly in China, with the value of the animation industry's output exceeding $14 billion in 2013.

Among the deals, British Museum, Chinese broadcaster CCTV and digital media agency Yadii will co-produce a documentary called The Magic Museum and launch a supporting app called Magic M to introduce Chinese mobile phone users to some of the most popular treasures in the British Museum.

British TV series are also making inroads in China. The BBC's third season of Sherlock received almost 70 million views on video website Youku, while each episode of Downton Abbey nets 160 million Chinese viewers.

In the healthcare field, Oxford-based Phynova recently received the first market approval for a traditional Chinese medicine from the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, estimated to be worth 15 million pounds over five years.

Royal Mail is launching a new shop front on Alibaba's Tmall Global e-marketplace, offering British retailers and exporters quick and easy access to the Chinese market and direct contact with Chinese customers.

British creative industries are also eyeing opportunities to expand into the Chinese market and promote cooperation with Chinese partners.

Ahead of the festival, the London-based Philharmonia Orchestra signed a deal with Chinese baijiu producer Wuliangye on Feb 23 in London. The 500,000 pound deal will run over five years.

"This is a truly historic collaboration and it is an enormous privilege to be working with a company that combines real cultural leadership with a genuinely innovative approach to both funding and partnership itself," says David Whelton, managing director of the Philharmonia Orchestra.

Whelton says he hopes the deal "can create a blueprint for cultural cooperation that can inspire other Chinese companies to work in similar ways".

In recent years, creative art industries have grown in China, with the sector expanding at more than 20 percent a year since 2004.

Having largely relied on imports of foreign designs and technology for many decades, China is now beginning to develop its own creative abilities.

China's creative industry plays a key role in the British government's long-term economic plan of tapping into potentially profitable markets like China.

Britain's creative industries are worth an all-time high of 77 billion pounds ($117 billion) a year to the British economy, according to government figures in January.

Its film, television and music industries are earning a staggering 8.8 million pounds every hour, or 146,000 pounds every minute.

Government figures show the creative industries enjoyed a growth of almost 10 percent in 2013, three times that of the overall British economy. The sector accounts for 1.7 million, or 5.6 percent, of total jobs in Britain.

This year marks a flagship year for UK-China relations with the first bilateral Year of Cultural Exchange. It will showcase the very best of UK culture in China and of Chinese culture in the UK.

Experts say the cultural exchanges provide a unique platform to strengthen ties between individuals, organizations and governments in the arts and creative industries.

About 30 cultural events will be held in China, including the Scottish Ballet Company's performance of Romeo and Juliet in Beijing, according to British Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg at a Chinese New Year reception in central London in February.

"It's not just about the links that bind us together commercially, but also about the greater mutual understanding between the two countries, which is always deepened through cultural exchange," Clegg says.

zhangchunyan@chinadaily.com.cn