Chinese Real Estate Investment into the Midlands
Birmingham, November, 2016
Weightmans
An audience of around 40 people with a mix of backgrounds from the professions, industry and post-graduate students to property entrepreneurs and developers attended a Birmingham China Business Forum event hosted by Weightmans on 3rd November 2016.
Three speakers gave interesting perspectives on the opportunities for property investment in the Midlands.
Richard Brown, former Development Director of Grand Central Birmingham, outlined where Birmingham is currently in relation to real estate investment and projects, and the opportunities for growth that exist.
Yifeng Li, a Chinese entrepreneur based 6 years in the UK, explained the reasons for property investment growth in China and gave insights as to why Chinese people like to invest in real estate in the UK.
Haydn Rogan, Tax Partner at Weightmans provided some valuable explanations as to what the relevant property taxes are in the UK, the recent changes made by the Government over the last 5 years or so and the reasons behind these.
Connecting Birmingham Future and Chinese Future
Birmingham, May 2016
FleetMilne Property
With the support of FleetMilne Property, about 40 young professionals from Birmingham Future and Chinese Future, together with some members of Birmingham China Business Forum, gathered together on 26 May 2016 for an evening of getting to know each other, making new friends and business networking. A delicious buffet was provided by Chung Ying Central.
We want this to be the start of a great collaboration between Birmingham China Business Forum , Chinese Future and Birmingham Future. We will also be running further collaborative events in the future.
ECBF Annual Dinner: China – The Opportunity for Greater Birmingham
Birmingham, January 2016
Chinese Community Centre - Birmingham
As 2016 began with some concerns over the slowdown of the Chinese economy, the opportunities and risks for Birmingham was discussed during a joint event by the Birmingham Business Focus (BBF) and Birmingham China Business Forum (BCBF). The event was held on 23rd January 2016 in the Birmingham Chinese Community Centre.
Dr Yeow Poon, the President of England China Business Forum (ECBF) and Chair of the Birmingham Chinese Community Centre, presented an overview of macro economic factors and suggested that although there will be some short term and possibly long term pain for some industries, there are other areas of potential growth.
Three areas were highlighted. Firstly, even as manufacturing declined in China, the service industry has continued to grow and has overtaken manufacturing as a percentage of GDP. Secondly, the online shopping market in China grew at an annualised rate of 42.7% in the last 5 years and is expected to continue growing. Thirdly, China’s ambition to rebuild the Silk Road Economic Belt and the Maritime Silk Road will drive growth in Europe, Africa and Asia over the next 25 years.
The presentation was followed by a stimulating discussion and a Chinese meal provided by the Birmingham Chinese Community Centre.
