Murphy seeks Chinese support on trade

Published on Saturday 28 March 2009 16:13

JIM Murphy, Secretary of State for Scotland, has called on the Chinese government to support a crackdown on bootleg whisky and widen access to its financial services market.

Murphy made the demands during a trade mission last week with the Scottish Council for Development and Industry (SCDI). He said the Chinese government could give a boost to Scotland's economy by introducing measures on whisky and financial services.

Following his first trip to the country, Murphy said: "A significant part of Scotland's future rests in China. China has delivered 30% of the world's growth since 2000 and Scottish businesses need to take their share of this."

He said Scotland has a proud history of involvement in China since Thomas Sutherland founded the Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation. "From Clyde Blowers to the Edrington Group, Scottish businesses are building those links afresh in this century," he added.

Murphy led a delegation of small and medium-sized enterprises and universities and colleges to China to help them make the connections required to grow their businesses.

In a speech in Shanghai he discussed how Scotland and China are being "buffeted by the global economic hurricane of autumn 2008". He said: "We are watching China's fiscal stimulus, the largest of them all, with great interest, assessing the impact of this huge investment programme and monetary measures designed to boost domestic demand – an intervention to shift the mix of growth from exports to consumption."

Murphy said he had meetings with the Chinese government, including the foreign and finance ministers, to discuss their strategy for the forthcoming G20 meeting and their opposition to any revival of protectionism in markets.

Owen Kelly, chief executive of Scottish Financial Enterprise, who was part of the trade delegation, said that Scotland's expertise in financial services is well recognised in China, especially in insurance and fund management.

But he warned it is a very large and complex market, where government plays a central role at many levels.

Dr Lesley Sawers, chief executive of SCDI, said: "The sectors represented on the trip, including energy, life sciences, education and textiles, are all growing markets.

"Chinese companies are hungry to work with Scottish partners and expertise."