Enabling innovation - UK/China ICT partnership

‘Enabling Innovation- UK/China Partnership in ICT’, an initiative to highlight the UK’s strengths in developing cutting-edge technologies, launched in Beijing last month. The initiative aims to promote bilateral exchanges and partnerships in ICT.

The ICT industry sector is a major enabler of the UK’s economic growth, with a series of initiatives paving the way for an innovation-driven approach to technological development.

Enabling Innovation, through a series of seminars across China, aims to highlight the successful progression of bilateral business partnerships between China and the UK. It will also bring a new generation of leading companies in the telecommunications and 3C supply chain together to share technologies and introduce successful models to the Chinese ICT community.

The UK has a long history of invention, dating back to Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone, John Baird and television and Tim Berners-Lee, inventor of the World Wide Web. Today, the UK is at the forefront of convergence in mobile wireless and broadcast communications technologies, leading Europe as the strongest research base for ICT. For 2008, the UK is on track to deliver strong growth in the IT market and is expected to out-perform France, Germany and other European competitors.

The UK continues to prove its strength in electronic chip design across a wide range of disciplines, including RF and mixed technologies, coupled with a strong domestic demand with the UK leading the world in usage of digital TRV, e-commerce and multi-play bundles of TV, broadband and telephone services.

‘Enabling Innovation’ sponsors ARM, BT, Imagination Technologies, NDS and Vodafone, have all established strong operations in China, through collaboration with Chinese companies.

UK Trade & Investment Director of Trade and Investment for China, Alastair Morgan remarked, “Today the UK is ranked as the 2nd strongest research base in the world behind only the USA, attracting investment at the high end of R&D from multinationals, as well as Chinese companies. To date, over 370 Chinese companies have set up in the UK. China Mobile, China Telecom and China Netcom have established their respective European headquarters in the UK.”

Chinese ICT companies in particular, are recognising the UK’s favourable position as a springboard for global growth with its leading R&D base, skilled staff and innovative technology. Joining China Mobile, China Telecom and China Netcom are leading telecoms and 3C companies Amoi, Haier, Hisense, Huawei, HYT, Midea and ZTE, who are all active in the UK and enjoy an established network that spurs innovation with light regulation and IPR governance.

British companies have played an active role in the development of China’s telecom market with strategic bilateral partnerships, showing strong performances and [..] introducing sound business models

Yang Zemin

President

China Academy of Telecommunication Research of MIIT

“With this year marking the 30th anniversary of China’s ‘Reform and Opening’ plan, we are celebrating significant achievements over three decades of remarkable development here in China, especially in the communications industry. British companies have played an active role in the development of China’s telecom market with strategic bilateral partnerships, showing strong performances and successful British companies introducing sound business models to our industry,” said Yang Zemin, President of the China Academy of Telecommunication Research (CATR) of MIIT – Partner of Enabling Innovation, Beijing.

As the appetite for ICT systems continues to grow worldwide, strong collaborations between Chinese and UK companies and further investments in R&D will work towards satisfying the demands as partnerships mature strengthen and deepen.