Jun 24 2009
Advanced Composites Group Ltd (ACG), part of the Composites Division of Umeco plc, recently welcomed Her Excellency (HE), Madame Fu Ying, the Ambassador of the People's Republic of China, to its Derbyshire, UK facility.
HE Madam Fu Ying was accompanied by: Madam Jiang Fan, Minister-Counsellor for Trade; Mr Guo Zhong, First Secretary of the trade section Chinese Embassy; Sir Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI); Matthew Houlsby, personal secretary to Sir Andrew Cahn; Dr Bryan Jackson, Chairman, East Midlands Development Agency (emda); Peter Hogarth, International Trade Director, UKTI East Midlands; and Ms Claire Urry, Executive Director, China Britain Business Council.
During her visit on Friday 19th June 2009, HE Madam Fu Ying and her accompanying dignitaries met with some of the Directors and staff at ACG's Technology Centre and adjacent composite materials manufacturing facility.
ACG was extremely honoured by Ambassador Fu's visit, which was part of a tour of companies across the East Midlands. ACG was by identified by emda as a strategically important East Midlands company that has established trading links within China, and which continues to offer novel technology that is of interest in supporting the Republic's growth in various industrial markets.
ACG was pleased to be able to introduce HE Madam Fu Ying to staff involved in a range of high profile technology projects.
In an interview with the Derby Evening Telegraph, Madam Fu Ying is reported to have said, "There is a perception in China that there is not a lot of manufacturing left in the UK, but this trip has helped dispel those myths and has been extremely useful." Madam Fu Ying continued, "What the UK can offer China is that innovation and creativity that companies like Advanced Composites Group show. There are a lot of opportunities in China for British companies. The downturn has affected the whole world and countries working together is the way forward."
Madam Fu Ying's visit was filmed by Central China TV and will be shown on national Chinese news to a potential audience of 1.3 billion. The filming included an interview, in Chinese, with Dr. Shuaijin Carreyette, one of ACG's senior development chemists.
Ambassador Fu, who started her diplomatic career in 1978 as Attaché of the Chinese Embassy in Romania, has been the Chinese Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the UK since April 2007. Prior to that, Ambassador Fu was Chinese Ambassador to Australia; Director-General, Department of Asian Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ambassador to the Philippines and Minister Counsellor, Embassy in Indonesia.