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Vice-Mayor of Shanghai to visit Guernsey

3 November 2008

Tu Guangshao, the Vice-Mayor of Shanghai, will visit Guernsey this month to see at first hand the infrastructure and expertise that makes the Island a leading international finance centre.

The Vice-Mayor has met with Guernsey representatives three times already this year during their visits to Shanghai. It was on the last occasion – during the Island’s delegation to the city in October – that he accepted an invitation from Chief Minister Lyndon Trott to extend a trip to the UK by visiting Guernsey.

“I am delighted that Vice-Mayor Tu is able to visit Guernsey as part of his trip to the City of London,” said Deputy Trott.

“There are significant business opportunities for Guernsey in China as a whole and Shanghai in particular. There is no better way of promoting business relationships of this kind than through personal contact and I look forward to welcoming the Vice-Mayor.”

The Vice-Mayor will be joined by Zhang Yujun, President of the Shanghai Stock Exchange, as well as local government officials. Their itinerary includes a presentation about the Channel Islands Stock Exchange (CISX) as well as meeting with leading politicians and government officials; Peter Neville, Director General of the Guernsey Financial Services Commission (GFSC); and senior industry practitioners such as Steve Le Page, Chairman of the Guernsey International Business Association (GIBA).

Peter Niven, Chief Executive of Guernsey Finance, said: “We are fortunate that such a high-level delegation from Shanghai is visiting Guernsey to find out more about the infrastructure and expertise behind our successful finance industry and further explore the many opportunities for the two centres to work together for mutual benefit.

“Indeed, the industry practitioners on our last delegation have already found that there is demand in China from individuals and institutions for financial products and services provided by Guernsey and as a result they have come away with pieces of business in the pipeline. I am very much looking forward to cementing our strong relationship with the Vice-Mayor and the other members of the delegation, something which is considered a very important pre-cursor to doing business in China.”

The Vice-Mayor will also meet former Chief Minister Mike Torode after the pair met during the March delegation to Shanghai when a Guernsey office staffed by permanent representative Wendy Weng was officially opened. In addition, Mr Niven met the Vice-Mayor when he visited Shanghai and Beijing in June as part of the Lord Mayor of the City of London’s delegation to the region. Deputy Trott then issued the Vice-Mayor with an invitation to visit Guernsey when they met during the October delegation to Shanghai.

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