Chopsticks Club supports Hurun Report’s “Engaging with the Chinese Private Sector Summit”

Chopsticks Club was delighted to support the Hurun Report’s “Engaging with the Chinese Private Sector Summit” held at BAFTA in London on 19 June 2015. Involving a delegation of 15 of China's most influential entrepreneurs, this event provided a unique platform to discuss inward investment opportunities in post-election Britain for Chinese entrepreneurs. Highlighted for their particular excellence by Dr Gerard Lyons, Economic Advisor to Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, were the services of the City of London; UK Education, Life Sciences and Green Tech industries.

According to Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Founder of Hurun Report, “there are currently 350 Chinese US$ billionaires listed in the Hurun China Rich List. Their personal stories and their dynamic businesses coupled with the meteoric pace of their super wealth creation is the amazing story of change in modern China."

“The atmosphere in the room was dynamic and the sense of opportunity was immense. The panel discussions showcased what the UK has to offer from film and creative industries to property, technology and financial services,” said H-J Colston, Joint CEO of Chopsticks Club. “What was fascinating was to talk to some of these entrepreneurs in the flesh and to hear about their huge ambitions,” she added.

According to Mr Chan Chai of Reignwood Estates, the parents of many of these entrepreneurs were denied an education due to the upheaval of the Cultural Revolution. From motor racing to property to animal feed to IT and technology the keynote speeches and the entrepreneur panellists brought fresh insight into the broad interests of this elite group of Chinese and their intentions to invest overseas. Safety and health were cited as key issues for the Chinese people right now.

Mr Li Jinyuan of Tiens, talked of the desire to find investment opportunities where "1 + 1 does not equal 2 but more than 10!...the vitality and vigour of the Chinese market is huge," he said, "with infrastructure building and strategy at the core...to drive consumption and to raise the living standards of millions more people."

Mr Chen Rong, who specialises in capital investment, mentioned various case studies where enormous growth has taken place from an app that locates a local chef to cook at home to a wind power project to help solve China's power problems.

The summit brought heavyweight government commentators together to comment on the post-election political and economic outlook. Lord Maude, newly appointed Minister of State for Trade & Investment, highlighted the strong economic and political ties and commitment between China and the UK. He also cited the positive UK environment for inward investment making it an attractive destination for wealthy Chinese with the result that inward investment from China is equal to that being poured into Germany, France and Italy combined. Baroness Bottomley spoke of "this government's desire to bring clarity and economic prosperity along with wealth creation and philanthropy that invests in our communities."

Mr Wang from Amer, spoke of his pride at being part of the Hurun Report platform and the Global Rich List. "We hope that we can inspire Chinese people around the world to do better business," he said.
The dinner was a delicious spread of delicacies "from the air, the sea and the earth" selected carefully by the F&B Manager at BAFTA and was served with fantastic UK wines.

Chopsticks Club was delighted to support this very successful event.