UK Food and Fashion Promoted Online in China

It will be easier for Chinese consumers to get access toBritish food and fashion， thanks to the new online initia-tives of the UK in China's fast-growing e-marketplaces.

UK Trade Investment Chief Dominic Jermeyunveiled the news during his tour of China to bang the drumfor British trade and investment from December 8 t0 11， 2014.The programs will be run by two of China's leading onlineplatforms， Shangpin.com and Tmall， and enable cus-tomers in China to buy British fashion and food.

\"I am delighted to return to China， a key globaltrade and investment partner for the UK， and an-nounce these two exciting initiatives to help Britishcompanies sell online here，\" said Dominic Jermey.

According to him， since 2010 the UK exportsof goods to China have increased by 115 percent andstood at ￡12.4 billion in 2013， while the UK is theseventh export destination for China. \"Given the UKreceives more Chinese investment than any majorEU， our relationship really is going from strength tostrength.\"

\"I am looking forward to further cementing ourpartnership during my trip as we prepare for nextyear's GREAT Festival of Creativity， which promisesto be an exciting opportunity for both our nations toforge new trading partnerships together，\" he added.

The UKTI CEO witnessed the signing of anMoU between UKTI/the China Britain BusinessCouncil and Shangpin.com， a leading online fashionretailer on Dec. 8， 2014. This will enable British fash-ion brands to sell to Chinese consumers using the on-line platform. He also held meetings with companiesin the energy and healthcare sectors.

On the next day， he highlighted the range ofBritish merchandise available to buy through theTmall e-commerce platforms at the Alibaba head-quarters in Hangzhou. He also welcomed the plansto open the British Foodhall on Tmall， a new plat-form to feature British food and drink products.

He also visited the Long Museum on the Bund，which will be the venue of the UK's GREAT Festivalof Creativity during March 2-4， 2015. The festival isdesigned to be a showcase of the best of UK creativ-ity， and demonstrate that creativity provides busi-nesses with a key advantage over their competitors.

More than 500 world leading British companiesin innovation， technology， design， film， education，healthcare， and luxury goods will use the Festival toreach the Chinese and global business audience toshow how British creativity can help their businessesinnovate and grow.

As well as building business leads， delegateswill have the chance to attend talks and seminarsthroughout the three days， uncovering insights aboutthe future and how global businesses can use creativ-ity to address the challenges together.

In Beijing， Mr. Jermey met senior officials fromthe Ministry of Commerce to discuss further govern-mental support for trade and investment between thetwo countries. He also met the National Energy Au-thority Offshore Wind division to follow up an MOUon Offshore Wind Collaboration. Signed in Septem-ber 2013， where they and UKTI agreed to cooperatemore closely and to facilitate cooperation betweenindustries on offshore wind power.