Manchester hopes president's visit will bring benefits

By Moody and Cecily Liu (chinadaily.com.cn) Updated: 2015-10-24 09:52

"If you are a global company, you are likely to be more innovative in your approach to construction," he said.

Like in London, Chinese investors are having an impact on the city's property sector.

Ginko Tree Investment, a Chinese fund, acquired a 49 percent stake for 142 million pounds in One Angel Square, the new home of the Cooperative Group, in 2013.

Andrew McFarlane, who heads the northwest England operations of Colliers International, the commercial property agents, said the potential deals in the city are not always big enough for Chinese investors.

"A guy acting for a Chinese investor came to me and said he wanted to buy a single building let to a single tenant that was no less than 300 million pounds. I said to him he would have to buy a collection of buildings for that."

The 5,000 Chinese students－one of the biggest concentrations in the country－at Greater Manchester's four universities (Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Salford and Bolton) are also having an impact on the residential market.

About 60 percent of the luxury self-contained apartments at the 25 million pound development Vita Student at First Street were snapped up by eager Chinese parents, according to insiders.

The biggest Chinese inward investment deal so far has been the Chongqing Machinery and Electric Co buying Precision Technologies Group in Milnrow, near Rochdale, for 20 million pounds.

Tony Bannan, chief executive of PTG, said the Chinese have boosted research and development efforts in advanced machine tools.

"The thing we admire and respect most about the Chinese parent is that they often take a long-term view of the business. For a technology company, this is ideal," he said.

Peter Lusty, chief executive of Manchester Tech Trust, a not-for-profit organization aimed at linking technology companies with investors, expressed his hope that Xi's visit would excite Chinese interest in the city.

"Manchester does not have as high a profile as some other cities in the UK like Cambridge, for instance, as far as technology goes, but in many ways what Manchester is doing is on a far greater and more impressive scale," he said.

Like China, Greater Manchester has new strengths in e-commerce with Boohoo.com, the fashion clothing company, and Appliances Online, selling electrical appliances at Bolton.