UK's visa rules out of step with the times

The debate surrounding the United Kingdom's China visa rules has come back into the spotlight after both David Cameron and George Osborne made trade trips to the country. Cameron led a trade delegation which included more than 100 UK business leaders at the end of last year signalling the importance of China to the current premiership.

On the second day of his visit Cameron announced the launch of a same day visa service for business visitors to the UK and promised China's leadership "very open competition" for investments in Britain. This is a welcome development. However, the visa and immigration rules must be aligned in order to support the development and growth of relations with China and the support of Chinese entrepreneurship.

The UK's China visa rules have been out of step with government and business rhetoric for some time. The UK has been keen to attract the brightest and the best to invest in the country, but the bureaucracy can put many people off.