Jersey's Promotion Agency Returns To China

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

09 June 2011

A delegation from Channel Island Jersey will be embarking on a tour of mainland China and Hong Kong this week in order to further strengthen ties with Greater China.

The team from Jersey Finance, headed by Chief Executive Geoff Cook, will arrive in Hong Kong on June 9, where they will meet with a number of senior financial services and legal practitioners. The team will also be meeting with Jersey firms that have a presence in Hong Kong.

A States' delegation, including the Chief Minister, Terry Le Sueur, and Assistant Chief Minister and UK and International Relations Senator, Freddie Cohen, will then join with the Jersey Finance group in Beijing on June 11 to meet with state and government officials, before moving on to Tianjin, the fifth largest city in China, on June 14. This follows on from a two-day visit by Tianjin officials to Jersey last summer.

On June 15, the group will travel to Shanghai, where Jersey Finance is a 'gold sponsor' of the Offshore Investment Conference, Shanghai 2011, at the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel. The two-day conference features a number of visiting and China-based speakers and will explore investment opportunities for professionals in and outside of China. Geoff Cook will give a presentation at the conference outlining the attraction of Jersey as a jurisdiction for Chinese investors wishing to access Western European markets.

Cook said:

“Jersey is really seeing the benefits of the effort that has been put into building a positive relationship with China and it is important that we continue to build on that success."

“During this trip, we will be highlighting in particular the substantial growth Jersey is seeing in its high-value listings work. There are currently, for instance, around 90 Jersey companies listed on worldwide exchanges with a combined market capitalization of over GBP103bn. In addition, of Jersey’s 30 main market listings, 20% of these are FTSE 100 companies with a combined market capitalization of GBP44.7bn. [Also] a quarter of the 60 Chinese companies listed on AIM are incorporated in Jersey.”

Jersey established an office in Hong Kong in 2009, headed by Zhaoan Li as Jersey's Head of Greater China Business Development. Jersey has established an agreement with China for the exchange of tax information, and also launched a dedicated micro-site in Mandarin last year.

In addition, Jersey was represented at a major business event in London in January 2011, which was attended by around 500 Chinese and British politicians, officials and business leaders. In April, representatives from Jersey Finance took part in an eight-day formal visit to China and Hong Kong, led by the Lord Mayor of London.

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