British nurseries learn of potential in China

British nurseries are being encouraged to expand into China as part of a government initiative to market the United Kingdom's expertise abroad.

The Great Early Years campaign, which is run by the Department of International Trade, aims to send 10 representatives from UK nurseries, nursery chains, and nursery training providers to Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen in September.

The DIT said it believes there is a demand for British nursery know-how in China, following on from recent changes in Chinese policies, including the one that means couples can now have a second child.

The DIT said Britain has a very good reputation in the education field.

Mark Garnier, a minister within the department, said: "The UK is a world leader and has a global reputation for providing outstanding expertise, education and qualifications in the early-years sector. There's growing demand for the UK offering, which is why we are now launching our Great Early Years education mission to China, to help UK nurseries export their services and knowledge on a global scale."

The program is designed to help British nurseries take their brands to China, where the overall size of the industry was estimated to have been worth 193 billion pounds ($251 billion) in 2015. The market is expected to grow, to 370 billion pounds, by 2020.

"As an international economic department, we're encouraging businesses to take advantage of this opportunity and tap into the lucrative Asian market, as part of an outward-looking global Britain," Garnier said.

According to UK-based leading property broker Christie& Co's Business Outlook for 2017, there is a "phenomenal" amount of interest from China in the childcare market, and education business owners in the UK are looking overseas for high-quality education business acquisition and investment opportunities.

Courteney Donaldson, head of childcare and education at Christie & Co, told Daynurseries website that many Chinese investors are interested in buying nurseries in the UK because they value education so highly.

She said: "They are also interested in partnering with British nurseries on a joint venture. They invest so highly in their children's education. Many of them are looking to build nurseries in China but they want to partner with high-caliber operators that will run the nursery in China with Chinese practitioners."