Mark Garnier, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for International Trade, and John Hayes, Vice Minister of the Department for Transport, together with 27 British leading maritime companies, will visit China this week to attend ‘The Golden Era: Sino-UK Maritime Trade and Investment Forum” in Shanghai. And it will be the first UK’s maritime trade mission in China.
With the UK maritime industry directly creating 500,000 job opportunities and contributing £22.2 billion to the national GDP, the visit will be an opportunity for the UK government to strengthen maritime trade links with China.
As the government’s representative for the maritime sector, John Hayes, Vice Minister of the Department for Transport, will lead a number of fora and events in China, including the visit on board RMS Queen Mary 2 to attend the UK maritime show.
The Department for International Trade is working with Maritime UK and Pudong local government to identify new maritime trade and investment opportunities for both countries. John Hayes, Vice Minister of the Department for Transport, said “the UK is a fantastic location for Chinese maritime firms to invest in”.
Besides, UK also believes maritime trade is central to the Belt and Road Initiative, strongly supports its vision of a more interconnected world and says UK companies are already working with their Chinese counterparts to deliver Belt and Road Initiative projects in third countries.