Marvin Rees arrives in Guangzhou – Bristol’s sister city in southern China – on Wednesday on a three day visit aimed at solidifying links between the two cities. In a busy three days, the Mayor will attend of forum on city governance, meet with local leaders – including the Mayor of Guangzhou and Vice Governor of Guangdong Province – and present a reciprocal gift to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the sister city relationship.
Many readers could be forgiven for not seeing the similarities between Bristol and Guangzhou – a sprawling city of over 10m people that is the key city in the Pearl River Delta region, population 40m+. However, Bristol and Guangzhou are an excellent pairing with many relevant similarities in both the shape of their economies and challenges they face.
Much like Bristol, the future of Guangzhou will depend on innovation, technology and unleashing the creative potential of a well-educated local population. The Pearl River Delta region was the centre of China’s Reform and Opening period over 30 years ago and continues to be at the forefront of China’s development. This means that the region – with Guangzhou in the lead – is rapidly moving away from the low-cost, low-wage, low-skill manufacturing that China has become famous for towards an economy that can better be described as ‘Created in China’ than ‘Made in China’.
The opportunities for Bristol companies that are able to rise to the challenge of exporting to China are huge and companies in metropolises like Guangzhou are screaming out to partner with British companies – especially in sectors where Bristol has particular strengths such as Financial and Professional Services, Aerospace and High-tech Manufacturing, Green Energy, Smart Cities and Creative Industries – while consumers are eager to buy Made in Britain food and drink as well as other consumer goods.
Just as China learned from other countries in its quest for economic development, Mayor Rees can learn from other British mayors on how to get the most out of Bristol’s relationship with China. For inspiration, Rees need look no further than fellow Labour mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson. Mayor Anderson has put great stock in developing relations with China during his time as mayor of Liverpool and has no problems in putting political party loyalties aside to work in conjunction with the Conservative central government in order to further the interests of his city. This was most evident when Mayor Anderson joined former Chancellor George Osborne on a visit to China in 2015.
The efforts of Mayor Anderson and his team in leveraging the prestige and influence of the centre government to boost the city’s profile in China and boost trade and investment links have well and truly started to bear fruit, with a noticeable uptick of trade and investment flows between Liverpool and China.
Bristol is a city that prides itself in doing things its own way. However, when it comes to bolstering links with China to the benefit of businesses in the city, Liverpool’s example is one worth paying attention to. Trade Secretary Liam Fox has already expressed his wish to work with Mayor Rees to help Bristol make the most of international opportunities. If Marvin Rees can form as close a working relationship with Liam Fox as Joe Anderson did with George Osborne despite political differences, Bristol and its businesses will surely benefit.
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