China-UK (Britain) Geopolitics and Economics: News & Discussions

[mike2000 is back]

continue...........

President Xi toasts a glass of wine with Prince Andrew after his speech at the Lord Mayors banquet, after the guests appeared to nod off. Much better now Andrew, seems you had a bad night with your wife.lol

The First Lady of China (left) enjoys a glass of wine at the banquet alongside her husband (right) President Xi, who also had a glass after the meal

The hall at Guildhall where the guests heard a speech from both the president and the Lord Mayor, who told guests: 'Tonight’s banquet is particularly special. Radiant reds, and glittering golds, illuminate a precious partnership between the United Kingdom and China'. Sino-British relations souring higher.

The Lord Mayor said: 'Great to hit our countries’ bilateral trade target of $100 billion by the end of this year! And great to work together towards new targets on the horizon – economic, cultural and diplomatic'

From left to right, Lady Mayoress Gilly Yarrow, First Lady Peng Liyuan, the Duke of York, China's president Xi Jinping and the Lord Mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow pose for pictures as they arrive at a banquet at Guildhall in London this evening. I liek the way Peng dresses.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (right) and Chinese first lady Peng Liyuan (left) stand with Britain's Duke of York before the second banquet of their state visit

President Xi Jinping (seated) signs the 'Distinguished Visitors Book' during the Lord Mayor's (standing) banquet at the Guildhall

 

[TaiShang]

Your tin soldiers looks like those of Pres. Erdogan. Yours are more shiny and fattish, though. Nice cultural sort of gimmick.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Chinese President Xi Jinping stands after signing the distinguished visitors book before the banquet. He has been busy attending various appointments in the capital today

President Xi (far right), his wife Madame Peng Liyuan (second left), Prince Andrew (second right), the Duke of York and Gilly Yarrow, meet for photographs ahead of the banquet

Once the guests had filed into the 15th-century hall and taken their seats the Lord Mayor, who visited China last month, gave a speech where he praised the partnership between the countries

Lady Mayoress Gilly Yarrow (left) greets Peng Liyuan (centre), the wife of China's president, before a banquet at the Guildhall in London

Lord Mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow and Lady Mayoress Gilly Yarrow greet the Duke of York ahead of this evening's banquet with the Chinese president and his wife

Lady Mayoress Gilly Yarrow greets the Chinese president, who is followed by his wife, on the second day of his state visit to the UK

Lord Mayor Alderman Alan Yarrow (centre) and the Duke of York greet China's president Xi Jinping as he arrives at a banquet this evening

President Xi (second right) is greeted by the Prince Andrew (left), the Duke of York, and Alan Yarrow, the Lord Mayor of the City of London

 

[mike2000 is back]

The Duke of York, Prince Andrew, inspects a guard of honour as he attends the Lord Mayor's banquet at the Guildhall in London tonight

Preparations under way ahead of the banquet (left) and the Lord Mayor giving his speech (right) during the sit-down affair this evening

A waitress prepares the table at the banquet ahead of the arrival of the Chinese President and his wife and other dignitaries

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, right, posed with Chinese president Xi Jinping and his wife, left, and Jackie Chan, centre, today. WTF... Jackie Chan you were also there? Now i want me some Rush hour part 4.
As for the Duchess of Cambridge, always so elegant.

Earlier today, Mr Xi and Madame Peng visited Imperial College London, where the First Lady was gifted with a cape, which was designed through a computer analysis of 700 photographs of her

The Duchess of Cambridge chose a purple lace dress for the visit to the event, which celebrates the cultural ties between the two countries

 

[mike2000 is back]

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge with the President Xi and Madame Peng Liyuan watch a performance of Matilda as they visit a creative industry event at Lancaster House

Professor Guang-Zhong Yang, left, shows the visitors equipment in the Hamlyn Centre for Medical Robotics at Imperial College London

Prince William talks with Sanpower Group Chairman Yuan Yafei, at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between The Royal Foundation of The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and Sanpower

After attending the creative reception, Chinese president Xi Jinping joined the Prime Minister for a working lunch at Downing Street

David Cameron with President Xi, far right, and members of his Cabinet including, from left, Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond, Home Secretary Theresa May, Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt, Energy Secretary Amber Rudd and British ambassador to China Barbara Woodward

President Xi and Madame Peng were joined by the Duke of York (right) and Chancellor George Osborne (left) at Imperial College London.............Hmmmmm......Looks like house of cards.lol

 

[TaiShang]

What is this red shawl? And why is the black ribbon? Someone has died?

 

[mike2000 is back]

What is this red shawl? And why is the black ribbon? Someone has died?

LOOL I thought someone will ask that.

well, the Lord Mayor still continues to wear a form of court dress long abandoned by many modern day officials on a regular, almost daily, basis. Their basic under dress is of the traditional black velvet court dress (old style) which kind of consists of a coat, waistcoat and knee breeches with steel cut buttons. This is worn with black silk stockings, patent court shoes with steel buckles, white shirt with lace cuffs and a large jabot stock. This form of court dress is worn by all Lord Mayors regardless of gender(yes i know, imagine a woman wearing that.) lol

Normally , For state occasions like this Xi's Visit, when the Sovereign is present, the Lord Mayor, instead of the gold-lace robe, wears a crimson velvet cape trimmed with an ermine cape and facings that have black sealskin spots on, very similar to a royal earl's coronation robe. It is tied with gold cordons.

So i will say its a traditional thing which has been with us for centuries. In fact ,Since 1545 the Lord Mayor of London has worn a Royal Livery Collar of Esses.

check my style out.

The Lord Mayor in coronation robes carrying his baton at George IV's coronation. july 1821

The Lord Mayor's Collar of Esses may have once been used as the symbol of the office of Lord Chancellor bySir Thomas More.

Sir William McArthur, Lord Mayor of London,caricatured byLeslie Ward 1881

Yes i know he was a chubby one.

 

[Aepsilons]

LOOL I thought someone will ask that.

well, the Lord Mayor still continues to wear a form of court dress long abandoned by many modern day officials on a regular, almost daily, basis. Their basic under dress is of the traditional black velvet court dress (old style) which kind of consists of a coat, waistcoat and knee breeches with steel cut buttons. This is worn with black silk stockings, patent court shoes with steel buckles, white shirt with lace cuffs and a large jabot stock. This form of court dress is worn by all Lord Mayors regardless of gender(yes i know, imagine a woman wearing that.) lol

Normally , For state occasions like this Xi's Visit, when the Sovereign is present, the Lord Mayor, instead of the gold-lace robe, wears a crimson velvet cape trimmed with an ermine cape and facings that have black sealskin spots on, very similar to a royal earl's coronation robe. It is tied with gold cordons.

So i will say its a traditional thing which has been with us for centuries. In fact ,Since 1545 the Lord Mayor of London has worn a Royal Livery Collar of Esses.

check my style out.

The Lord Mayor in coronation robes carrying his baton at George IV's coronation. july 1821

The Lord Mayor's Collar of Esses may have once been used as the symbol of the office of Lord Chancellor bySir Thomas More.

Sir William McArthur, Lord Mayor of London,caricatured byLeslie Ward 1881

Yes i know he was a chubby one.

Oh so elegant and stylish, really, you Royalist Britishers, you! LOL!

But , i must admit, not as elegant as Imperial Japanese Court Regalia, i deign to say....

The Imperial Representation during His Most Imperial Majesty's Ascension unto The Imperial Chrysanthemum Throne.

The Presentation of The Son of Heaven, Sovereign Lord , Divine Emperor of the Japanese Empire

Japan Speaks.....

What is this red shawl? And why is the black ribbon? Someone has died?

At least he didn't wear the wig and tri-hat! That was the 'in thing' back in the 18th century, yes?

King George III,
In true British Glory,

 

[TaiShang]

Britain should harness the power of China's Tech Revolution

China's start-up culture means the best jobs of the future may soon be, not here, but in the East

Five out of the world's top 10 internet firms are already Chinese Photo: REUTERS


As President Xi continues his state visit, it's time to wake up to the new truth in our affairs. We're about to move from the era of "made in China" to the new age of "invented in China". If we don't get our act together, we're going to fall behind as China wins the war for the world's best jobs.

Behind China's recent market wobbles that shook world markets, a different story is in fact taking shape. An entrepreneurial "Tech Revolution" is transforming the country we once thought was the sweatshop of the world.

In the last Five Year Plan, China set a bold ambition to become one of the world's leading innovation nations by 2020 – and one of the world's leading science powers by 2050. And guess what? China's arriving early.

China is creating thousands of high paid, high tech jobs - every day.

Within the next two years, China will become the world's leading science spender. It's science budget – already over £130 billion – will outstrip Europe this year or next, and overtake America by 2019. Although Chinese science is not especially efficient today, five out of the world's top 10 internet firms are already Chinese. Firms like Alibaba, Tencent, Baidu, Xiaomi and JD are all bigger than eBay.

Over the last two years, the "Red Tech Revolution" powered by a wave of Chinese entrepreneurial chutzpah has transformed the number of Chinese start-ups as people heed Premier Li's advice that "everyone can be an innovator". The country has now spawned more than a dozen "unicorns" – start-up firms with a value of over $1 billion, and over £10 billion of venture capital money poured into backing Chinese entrepreneurs in 2014 – three times the figure for the year before.


Amazing new apps now let China's city dwellers order food and fruit like pears and apples from their home village hundreds of miles away, with some firms promising delivery from "tree to tongue" in under seven hours. It's sparking an incredible return to the countryside as start-up wannabes return home to set up rural tech firms. Even high-profile mayors have quit their jobs to join the rush to start up. An incredible 96 per cent of the 60 million companies now registered in China are now private companies – and private sector growth now powers the majority of the Chinese economy. It's not Communism as we used to know it.

And here's what it means for jobs. While we are creating millions of low-paid, low-tech jobs, China is creating thousands of high-paid, high-tech jobs – every day.

For two centuries, the west has created the world's best jobs – boosting incomes and living standards for millions of families. But a historic shift is now under way. The best jobs of the future may soon be, not here, but in the East.

In fact, across China, small and medium-sized tech companies will create more than 150,000 jobs for graduates alone in 2015 while some 129 High & New Technology Industrial Development Zones create another 500,000 jobs more.

Contrast that to Britain. Something like 85 per cent of the jobs created in Britain over the last parliament were low-tech, low-paid jobs. In fact, in 2014 – the last year figures were available – Britain created just 203,000 knowledge economy jobs – a fraction of the Chinese figure.

The bottom line for Britain is that unless we partner – we won't prosper.

The UK has been one of the most inventive and entrepreneurial nations on earth for centuries.

Five years ago, many forecast that as China's economy developed and rebalanced away from exports and towards consumer growth, there would be great new markets for European firms. To an extent that's true. But the real win-win between the UK-China space will be in the field of innovation, technology and enterprise.

This is a huge opportunity for UK and China to grow together. The UK has been one of the most inventive and entrepreneurial nations on earth for centuries. Our scientists are among the most efficient on earth and are among the greatest collaborators with Chinese scientists. Chinese firms like Huawei already find the UK one of the most fertile places to think, innovate and test. Our universities are full of over 100,000 Chinese students and scientists – and numbers are rising fast. We are now at the stage where UK firms know they must be in China, because quite simply they will learn more doing business there than anywhere else on earth.

But we need to speed up reform. We need new joint funds to help take great ideas here – and spin them off in China. We desperately need free movement of scientists and students between us. And we need to turn our embassies and consulates into hi-tech hubs spotting new tech and new entrepreneurs that might make good partners for the UK.

For thousands of years, China led the world's science race, inventing the breakthrough tech of the ancient world – paper, gunpowder and the compass. History is about to repeat itself. Let's not get left behind.


@cirr , @AndrewJin , @tranquilium , @terranMarine , @Dungeness , @Keel et , @Economic superpower , @opruh al

 

[mike2000 is back]

Oh so elegant and stylish, really, you Royalist Britishers, you! LOL!

But , i must admit, not as elegant as Imperial Japanese Court Regalia, i deign to say....



The Imperial Representation during His Most Imperial Majesty's Ascension unto The Imperial Chrysanthemum Throne.


The Presentation of The Son of Heaven, Sovereign Lord , Divine Emperor of the Japanese Empire



Japan Speaks.....



At least he didn't wear the wig and tri-hat! That was the 'in thing' back in the 18th century, yes?

King George III,
In true British Glory,

Nahhhhhhh.............we have better style.

King George 1821.

Poignant: King Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, fictitiously pictured in royal attire.

1902 portrait of Edward VII in his coronation robes

Elizabeth I wore the crown and held the sceptre and orb at the end of her coronation. Her reign saw Britain Emerge as the world's sole superpower with the Royal navy ruling the four seas and building the largest Empire in the history of Mankind.

Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. Jeez.........Young age is golden.


June 1953: Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Prince Philip, waves to the crowd from the balcony at Buckingham Palace after being crowned at Westminster Abbey. Her coronation was the first worldwide televised event.

4 April 1955: Winston Churchill kisses Queen Elizabeth II's hand as she leaves 10 Downing Street in London after a dinner given by the Prime Minister

 

[tranquilium]

You gotta hand one thing to the Brits. They are pragmatic, a lot more so than their French neighbors.

 

[Aepsilons]

@mike2000 is back , fine, fine, i suppose your monarchs had easier access to western style. But you have to admit, starting with the Emperor Meiji, Japanese Monarchs also were as wondefully dressed as yours. Afterall, being the Son of Heaven .... The Emperor was the very thesis of "swagger"





The Great Meiji (younger)

The Great Meiji,

The Emperor of Japan receiving the British plenipotentiary to Japan.
That's right, on your knees..... LOL!

The Son of Heaven watching morning Polo

LOL!!!! YES, but was your Queen descendant of a SUN GOD?

I think NOT!



Our Emperor is a direct descendant to the Sun God, The Great Amaterasu !

 

[mike2000 is back]

@mike2000 is back , fine, fine, i suppose your monarchs had easier access to western style. But you have to admit, starting with the Emperor Meiji, Japanese Monarchs also were as wondefully dressed as yours. Afterall, being the Son of Heaven .... The Emperor was the very thesis of "swagger"





The Great Meiji (younger)

The Great Meiji,

The Emperor of Japan receiving the British plenipotentiary to Japan.
That's right, on your knees..... LOL!

The Son of Heaven watching morning Polo

Actually Meiji is the greatest thingthat ever happened to Japan. since without him Japan would have ended up up as one of our already huge empire.

On a serious note though. He indeed revolutionised Japan and made Japan what it is today, by opening the country up to the west and learning from us early when all other Asian countries where still busy isolating themselves from others. He is to be credited for Japan being the first Asian country to industrialise and develop, to the point where Japan ALMOST beat us to our own game.
Yes i said ALMOST


He was indeed a visionary leader. We don't see leaders like that every century.

 

[TaiShang]

You gotta hand one thing to the Brits. They are pragmatic, a lot more so than their French neighbors.

Looks like they are working to grab some slices from the pie but the Brits are definitely the pro- active side:

***

China to take one-third stake in Hinkley nuclear project

China is to take a one-third stake in a French-led project to build the first in a new generation of UK nuclear power plants, investing billions of pounds under a landmark commercial deal to be announced on Wednesday.

Its decision to take a 33.5 per cent share in the proposed £24bn Hinkley Point power station in Somerset follows months of negotiations with French energy group EDF, which will lead the project and fund the rest of the construction bill.

There will be no other investors after Saudi Arabia backed out. EDF is expected to sell €10bn of assets over the coming five years as it shores up its balance sheet and prepares to build up to three nuclear projects in the UK with its Chinese partners.

In a pact sealed just hours before the arrival of President Xi Jinping of China in London for this week’s state visit, senior EDF executives and a negotiating team led by China’s state-owned CGN struck an accord that will lead to a final investment decision on the plant — an irrevocable undertaking — by the end of the year.

The plan to press ahead with Hinkley Point C, a huge infrastructure project that will deliver 7 per cent of the UK’s electricity needs, has the strong political backing of David Cameron, the UK prime minister, and the leaders of France and China.

It will be the commercial centrepiece of Mr Xi’s visit this week. A second Chinese nuclear group, CNNC, will be involved in the project as a joint venture partner.

The agreement means that Hinkley will get a new completion date of 2025, coming online a decade from now and two years later than planned. It is already well behind schedule after a lengthy EU state aid inquiry, protracted talks on investment and the near failure of France’s Areva, which will supply the European Pressurised Reactor technology used in the plant.

EDF expects Hinkley’s construction to be funded initially by equity.

Industry insiders say this means it is unlikely to raise as much debt as envisaged originally and is, therefore, not expected to draw heavily on public funds to underwrite that debt. The Treasury last month agreed to provide a £2bn infrastructure guarantee. While more funding may be available, EDF has no plans to request it.

This week’s accord is also expected to include a reference to future co-operation with the Chinese on two further nuclear plants, Sizewell in Suffolk and Bradwell in Essex.

President Xi Jinping’s state visit to the UK has featured all the pomp and circumstance the UK can muster. Has it cemented the UK’s place as a prosperous best friend to China in the West or has Britain bowed too deeply to an authoritarian regime? Joshua Chaffin puts the question to Jamil Anderlini and Demetri Sevastopulo.

China wants to use Bradwell to showcase its own reactor technology and would take the lead on that project, submitting a design to UK regulators.

“Hinkley opens the way for them to submit their own designs and proposals,” said one industry insider.

A poll commissioned by Greenpeace on Monday showed that less than a third of the UK public backed plans to build a new reactor at Hinkley. Some 29 per cent of more than 2,000 surveyed supported the plans, against 34 per cent opposed. “George Osborne is about to plough billions into the bottomless pit of ever more expensive nuclear power whilst pulling the plug on clean energy sources that are getting cheaper every year,” said Doug Parr, the environmental campaign group’s chief scientist.

 

[mike2000 is back]

Now lets get back to the Chinese President visit to GREAT BRITAIN.
Gentlemen, Ladies only this time please.

Kate, 33, (left) wore the delicate Papyrus tiara, also known as the Lotus Flower, which was once owned by the Queen Mother. The Queen, a white tulle banquet dress embroidered with diamante sequins, poses for pictures with Madame Peng (right)

The Queen (right) makes a speech at the banquet, where she hailed the 'milestone' visit of China's president (centre) to Britain

Prince William was seated beside President Xi's wife Madame Peng at the sit-down meal last night, held in the palace's ballroom

The Duchess of Cambridge leaves Kensington Palace wearing a bespoke Jenny Packham dress, the Queen Mother's tiara and diamond chandelier earrings as she makes her way to the state banquet at Buckingham Palace yesterday evening. Thats a Rolls Royce car i can tell.

President of China Xi Jinping (right) and his wife Peng Liyuan (second left) accompany the Queen (second right) and Prince Philip (left) at the palace ahead of last night's banquet as they pose for an official photograph. Is it a dressing competition?