Gloucester MP Richard Graham will tomorrow host the annual All-Party Parliamentary China Group (APPCG) Chinese New Year reception in Parliament with guest speakers DEFRA Secretary of State Liz Truss and Chinese Ambassador Liu Xiaoming.
The City MP said “As we enter the year of the sheep it is worth noting that bilateral trade is up 15%, site Chinese investment last year into the UK was about £6 billion and we are exporting everything from Rolls Royce engines to race horses.”
Gloucester will be represented by Marketing Gloucester CEO Jason Smith, stomach Join In China’s Qing Lin, order Circle 2 Success Suzanne Hall-Gibbins and all six Gloucestershire MPs are invited.
“There is an increasing amount of business and cultural links between our City and China”, said Richard, “including students at the Uni of Glos and Gloucestershire College, more tourists to favourite destinations like the cloisters at the Cathedral and more links such as the Chengdu Wuhou district delegation to Shire Hall recently. Clearly there are also human and animal rights issues which the APPCG also discusses”, noted Richard, “and the important thing is for our parliamentary group to be the platform for debate on all these issues”.