China’s eyes are on Yorkshire companies

Professor Peter Buckley, the professor of international business at the University of Leeds, told the Yorkshire Post that he’d spoken to members of a delegation of Chinese companies who were looking for acquisitions in Yorkshire. Prof Buckley made the comments while attending a dinner, which included a presentation by Leeds University academic Conor McDonald, about the opportunities in China’s regional cities.

Prof Buckley said he had recently hosted a delegation of Chinese businesses.

He said: “There were at least two businesses who came to me after the session, and said to me, ‘Tell me who we should buy’.

“They’re very interested in making acquisitions. They were interested in the metal sector, steel, and around that industry.

“It’s more than possible that they could buy these firms. They’ve got the willingness to internationalise and the capital, and we’ve got a lot of the skills and the resources that they need.

“We’re talking about large entrepreneurial companies that have got quite big in China, but have realised that there’s a world market out there.

“One of the big barriers, both ways, are cultural differences. Institutions like ours are helpful, because they can make contacts.”

He added: “We don’t think twice about a company being owned by the Japanese, or the Americans. So why should we think it unusual that the Chinese should do it? They’ve got the desire to get into our market.”

Mr McDonald’s presentation was held at the Hilton Doubletree Hotel in Leeds, and the event was supported by DLA Piper, UKTI, PwC and HSBC.

Mr McDonald told the audience that apart from Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, there are another 270 cities in China with populations of more than one million people.

UK companies looking to serve consumer markets in China will be attracted by this economic expansion, and the rising purchasing power, Mr McDonald said.