UK and China Announce Partnership Deals During Chinese President’s State Visit

Mr. Xi Jinping and his wife, Madame Peng Liyuan, were on a state visit to the United Kingdom from October 20 to 23, 2015 on the invitation of Her Majesty the Queen. They stayed at the Buckingham Palace.

Activities on the last day of state visit

On October 23rd, the last day of the Chinese President’s state visit to the UK, he and the UK Prime Minister were in Manchester to announce the education deals and the establishment of direct flights between Beijing Capital International Airport and Manchester Airport. Hainan Airlines will serve the first direct flights from Beijing to Manchester Airport, which is projected to bring in £50m into the city’s economy.

Earlier in the day, the honored guests visited Manchester University. They were joined later by UK PM David Cameron to visit the football academy of Manchester City. The Chinese President had once visited the University of Manchester’s National Graphene Institute with Chancellor George Osborne. It is a science institute that conducts research on a flexible, highly-conductive and 200x-stronger than steel, thin and the first 2D material in the world called graphene, which was discovered by the university’s scientists.

Before his departure, Mr. Xi attended lunch together with members of the community, civic and business representative as well as the UK Prime Minister at the Manchester Town Hall. He and Mr. Cameron also met with former and current players of Manchester United and Manchester City, including Mike Summerbee, Denis Law, Patrick Vieira and Gary Neville at the football Academy of Manchester City.

Northern Powerhouse

Mr. Osborne said after the visit that Northern England would soon be receiving investments worth billions of pounds, which is why the project is called Northern Powerhouse. This is an economy-boosting plan for the north, which is aimed at providing more funds, businesses and development to the region. Most of the partnership deals struck with China will benefit the region. BCEG, a Beijing firm, will be appointed as the main contractor for Manchester’s regeneration project for Middlewood Locks. It is expected that the company will provide the kickstarter fund of about £4m. There will also be educational partnerships with schools and universities.

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