A NUMBER of Scottish businesses were celebrating last night, as they emerged victorious from the inaugural China-Scotland Business Awards. The China Welcome of the Year award was handed to Laings the jeweller, for efforts made to improve the customer experience of Chinese visitors. Sanpower was named Chinese Investor of the Year following its 2014 acquisition of House of Fraser. Judges noted that in the long?term Sanpower sees Scotland as the perfect place to further evolve its management philosophy by engaging with its communities, students, financial institutions, and public figures. Exporter of the year is Peak Scientific Instruments, which began to export to the Chinese market in 2012. It now has 65 people working on the Chinese operation and plans to grow this to 90 as China has grown to become Peak’s largest single market. The Education-Business Collaboration of the Year went to The International Diabetes Centre in Shenzhen. The Centre, a collaboration between The University of Edinburgh and Hua Xia Healthcare, a Hong Kong listed hospital investment and management company with a Scottish registered subsidiary. For the Chinese Government, reform of the healthcare sector is both a social and strategic priority. The New to China Exporter Award was won by Findlay Irvine, a Penicuik-based manufacturer of transport related safety equipment. China’s burgeoning transport infrastructure led Findlay Irvine to explore opportunities in both rail and civil aviation, ultimately identifying an opportunity to export into the airport maintenance market. Finally, the Special Award for Contribution to Scotland-China Relations went to the Bank Of China. The bank’s Glasgow branch opened in 1985. Keith Brown, Economy Secretary, said: The economic ties between our two countries continue to flourish.” In the spring, the Scottish Government will publish a revised strategy for Scotland’s engagement with China. It will set out the areas where it believes there is even greater scope for collaboration – areas like trade and investment, education, and the exchange of culture, ideas and people.
The China-Scotland Business Awards took place on 1 February as part of the annual Chinese Burns Supper, celebrating the growing investment relationship between the two countries. The Scottish government is due to release an updated plan on its engagement with China in the spring, including areas such as trade, investment and education, where it believes there is scope for further cooperation.