Entrepreneurs club soaks up the Scottish scene

A delegation of leading Chinese entrepreneurs enjoyed a nine-day tour of Scotland this month aimed at forging firmer links with its local businesses.

The trip featured about 20 people from the China Entrepreneur Club's golf division and took in a host of top companies and sporting venues between July 10 and 18.

The itinerary included meetings with representatives of NetThings, Collagen Solutions Plc, Mallzee, Money Dashboard and Sunamp, as well as the Glengoyne Distillery and the headquarters of Scottish Rugby Union and Celtic Football Club.

"Scottish companies are impressive in the areas of energy management, sustainable energy, real estate and investment management. This trip offered (the entrepreneurs) and opportunity to better understand the strengths of businesses in Scotland," says Maggie Cheng, secretary-general of the China Entrepreneur Club.

"We hope to have more opportunities to carry out more in-depth exchanges."

The club was formed in 2007 to bridge mutual interests between the fields of business and sport in the private sector, and to foster international collaboration and exchanges. Its members include some of China's most influential entrepreneurs, business leaders and economists.

The 49 companies in the club earned a combined annual gross income of more than 338 billion pounds ($447 billion; 404 billion euros) last year.

Yu Chunlei, chairman of Zhejiang Jiuding Investment Group Co Ltd, who took part in the trip, says he was impressed with Scotland's golf courses and recreation facilities, as well as with its enterprises, whose investment in research and development was beyond his imagination.

Governments and financial institutions also provide sufficient support for small and medium-sized enterprises, he says.

"Even though Scotland is a small market, it boasts numerous marvelous inventions," he says. "So, the connection and cooperation with Chinese enterprises will multiply the value of Scottish enterprises.

"China and Scotland should have better commercial exchanges and cooperation. The China Entrepreneur Club can serve as a bridge for this."

George McGhee, CEO of NetThings, a technology company focused on energy management for the business and consumer markets, says: "Our vision is to be at the forefront of low-cost energy management technology and to work with partners globally to understand different markets, build on our own learnings and educate our team."

The tour was "a fantastic opportunity" to work with the club in achieving this, he adds.

While in Scotland, delegates also enjoyed a round of golf at St. Andrews as well as at Kingsbarns, Jubilee and Loch Lomond, and spent a day watching the 2016 British Open at Troon.

Julian Taylor, executive director in the Asia-Pacific for Scottish Enterprise, a business body funded by the Scottish government, says: "China is one of the most important export markets for Scotland, and it would be good for our economy to see trade between our countries continue to increase.

"The China Entrepreneur Club represents an influential partner, and we're proud to introduce them to some of our most exciting companies, which will certainly benefit from any collaboration and mutual exchanges."

Scottish Enterprises set up a high-growth markets unit in 2014 to help local companies enter markets in China, India and the Middle East, which can be difficult to penetrate but offer potentially high rewards.

China is currently Scotland's 13th-largest export market, worth 530 million pounds in 2014.

chenyingqun@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/22/2016 page26)