Leader of the Council, Councillor Chris Poulter and Councillor Mick Barker, along with Derby City Council officers, travelled to China to attend the World Manufacturing Convention.
The World Manufacturing Convention, was held in Hefei City from Friday 20th to Monday 23rd September, and was a fantastic chance for the Council and local Derby companies to develop business contacts and open up export opportunities in China.
Representatives from Derby City Council, Derbyshire County Council, University of Derby and local businesses from across the region travelled to attend the convention and met with senior city and province officials. The group also visited a number of businesses that are based in China to explore their interests in the UK.
As part of the trip, the Councillors visited a variety of technology companies and invited them to visit Derby to explore potential investment and growth opportunities within the city. The businesses ranged from Alibaba – a hi-tech company responsible for Alipay and who are currently the 9th largest company in the world, Yadea who create electric bikes and scooters, and Iflytech, who create artificial intelligence and speech recognition software. It’s hoped that the contacts made on this visit will bring more successful businesses into the city and help to build our growing business economy.
Councillor Chris Poulter, Leader of Derby City Council, said:
China is moving into the fourth industrial revolution in terms of hi tech development. We met with some fantastic companies, including Alibaba, Iflytech and pharmaceutical companies all interested in coming to the city. As a result, we’ve arranged six return visits with government departments and businesses to visit the city between now and February, to expand on the good work that we’ve done, particularly looking at leisure and culture opportunities. The Chinese Government has shown a real commitment to working with us, and developing trade links between the cities.
The trip also helped to promote tourism to Derby, with Councillors meeting the Hefei Literary Association and Provincial Culture and Tourism Department.