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TimesOnline: Chinese deals worth £1.5bn announced

May 10, 2004
Posted 11 May 04

Four British companies will tomorrow announce joint ventures in China worth more than £1.5 billion, according to Government officials.

The announcements will coincide with a three-day visit to the UK by Wen Jiabao, the Chinese Prime Minister.

Representatives of BP, Shell, Kingfisher and its B&Q unit will join the Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt and Chinese Commerce Minister Bo Xilai at the contract signing ceremony in London.

The deals include a retail petrol stations venture in Guandong Province between BP and PetroChina and a similar arrangement in Zhejiang Province between BP and Sinopec.

BP is also involved with Sinopec in the Nanjing Acetic Acid Plant project while Shell is teaming up with the Chinese firm on petrol stations project in Jiangsu Province.

BP and Fu Hua Group will sign phase II of the Zhu Hai Purified Teraphthalic Acid project.

Kingfisher, B&Q and Midea Group will sign a deal on a "strategic sourcing framework".

But in a sign that Mr Wen's visit could be used by protesters to criticise China's human rights record, the Foreign Office minister with responsibility for China, Bill Rammell, insisted that economic considerations would not stop Britain from voicing worries on the issue.



 

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