Chinese company to invest in surrounding business of Manchester Airport

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A Chinese construction company will become part of the group that will develop an 800-million-pound business park next to the Manchester Airport, British Chancellor George Osborne announced here on Sunday.

The Beijing Construction Engineering Group will join Manchester Airports Group, Carillion PLC and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund as funding partners in building the park, Osborne made the announcement during his visit to Beijing.

It is one of the largest development projects in Europe by providing five million square feet of business space, including manufacturing, warehousing, offices, hotels, retail and leisure outlets across a 160-acre regeneration area and creating more than 16,000 jobs.

The project will also be the largest UK development project since the London 2012 Olympic Games and is a key part of the government-backed Enterprise Zone launched in 2011 to attract international businesses to Manchester.

The joint venture is the latest in a line of new partnerships being forged between the UK and China that has helped make the UK the top destination in Europe for Chinese investment.

Chinese companies have taken stakes in utilities and big infrastructure projects from Thames Water, Heathrow and Talisman Energy as well as the redevelopment at Nine Elms in London which is expected to attract 700 million pounds of investment.

British companies are also winning contracts on Chinese infrastructure projects, with UK property, architecture and engineering companies working on the 4-billion-U.S.-dollar redevelopment of Shanghai International Shipping Services Centre, and the new Beijing Green Building Park.

"I am delighted to announce on the first day of my visit to China that a joint British-Chinese partnership has won the contract to develop Manchester's Airport City," Osborne said.

"I am determined that Britain does not repeat the mistakes of past that saw investment and growth only concentrated in the City of London, important as it is; but instead make sure investment from places like China flows to all parts of country," he said.

"Our economic plan is about securing a recovery for all parts of the country," he added.

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