Project aims to help Chinese companies invest in the UK

National Grid Plc employees stand on a suspended platform as they work to replace insulators on an electricity pylon in Kendal, UK. [Photo/Agencies]

China and the UK are taking steps to help Chinese companies planning to invest in British infrastructure to understand the processes involved.

The UK-China Infrastructure Academy has been launched on a wave of increased Chinese investment in infrastructure. It will help train Chinese companies and officials on investment processes in the UK.

The academy will be delivered by University College London's Bartlett School of Construction and Project Management, providing senior Chinese business executives with executive training programs on the relevant policy, financial planning and legal frameworks.

The UCL team will be led by Academic Director Chen-Yu Chang, in partnership with leading banks and professional services companies, including HSBC and KPMG, law firms CMS, Ashurst and Hogan Lovells, as well as engineering firms Arup and AECOM.

UCL President Michael Arthur said:"The launch of the UK-China Infrastructure Academy is an exciting opportunity for UCL to use its considerable expertise to help Britain and China to expand their investment in infrastructure."

The UK is already one of the top destinations for Chinese investment in Europe, with 4 billion pounds invested in UK infrastructure and regeneration since 2012.

The new initiative will form a key pillar of the UK-China Infrastructure Alliance, which was announced during the 2015 UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, as a key platform to enhance commercial cooperation in infrastructure in each other's markets and in third markets.

The unveiling of the academy builds on UCL's ties with China, which are growing in a number of key areas. In November, UCL reinforced its key strategic partnership with Peking University with an agreement to jointly deliver an MBA program at PKU's campus in Beijing.

The launch event was joined by Andrew Percy, minister for the Northern Powerhouse, and Vice-chairman Lin Nianxiu of China's National Development and Reform Commission, which is China's macro-planning ministry, along with the first cohort of 30 Chinese executives and government officials, who were welcomed at the academy's first course.

As part of the course, delegates visited UK infrastructure sites, including viewing potential investment opportunities in the area designated by the UK as the Northern Powerhouse, including the cities of Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool and Newcastle.

Percy said Chinese companies will benefit from greater support to invest in the Northern Powerhouse and across the UK, helping create jobs and boost economic growth.

"In the past year alone, foreign direct investment into the Northern Powerhouse grew at twice the national average and this new Academy will help build on this success," he said.