Chinese firms accelerating expansion into UK

Jin Xu, 2nd from left, minister counselor of the economic and commercial office of China's embassy in Britain gives out an award to Seaco Global Limited at the Tou Ying 2015 Top 25 tracker dinner in London, Jan 14, 2016. [Photo by Jiang Shan/China Daily]

Simon Bevan, partner and head of China Britain Services Group at Grant Thornton, said the latest tracker analysis shows private Chinese companies are making an increasingly bigger contribution to overall investment. Also, China's growing consumption market is leading an increasing amount of emerging Chinese investment in the UK in the retail, leisure and entertainment industries.

"The country's booming technology sector, especially in mobile communications and social media, is becoming a hotbed of innovation, rather than a producer of copycat Western goods and services. Increased investment in tourism and leisure reflects a boom in Chinese overseas travel," says Bevan.

The tracker's data also demonstrated a larger number of Chinese firms expanding into the UK by acquisition compared to previous years. Their geographical location demonstrated increasing diversity, as a result of their growing familiarity in the UK market.

Key sectors represented by the tracker's top ranking companies are technology, media and telecommunications, financial services, retail, and energy sectors.

Notable names amongst the list include Sinochem, Petrochina, Bank of Communications, Agricultural Bank of China, China Taiping Insurance, China Telecom, China Unicom, ZTE, Hisense, Lenovo, amongst others.

The latest version of the tracker monitored revenue growth of companies from December 2013 to December 2014. In Chinese, touying means investing in the UK.

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