China's new ambition
26 May 2017
A dozen University of Manchester staff and students attended the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) Open Day at the Chinese Consul General’s Residence on Friday 19 May.
The participants learned about China’s vision of using the Belt (Silk Road) and Road (maritime Silk Road) as a development strategy to connect Asia, Africa and Europe for decades to come.
This event took place in the same week as the Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation was opened in Beijing where 28 heads of state and government attended together with thousands of international organisations representatives including British Chancellor and CBBC. British Chancellor Phillip Hammond stressed the UK’s support for the role that the BRI can play in boosting global trade. He said that this initiative is truly ground-breaking in the scale of its ambition spanning more than sixty-five countries across four continents and it has the potential to raise the living standards of 70% of the global population. He also drew attention to the great complementarity of the UK and China’s economic strengths, particularly around the UK’s Financial & Professional Service industries and its technical and consultancy offering around major infrastructure and master planning projects.
The Confucius Institute envisages that more British companies will seek opportunities to participate in key infrastructure projects and professional services as a result and provides ongoing support for those companies and individuals in terms of their language skills and cultural knowledge.