2015年CRI Cameron's Business Ambassador: Xi's Visit an Opportunity to Build Understanding and Trust

Ronald Dennis was appointed by UK Prime Minister David Cameron as the government's official Business Ambassador in 2010. Better known for his role as CEO of McLaren Technology Group and Principal for the group's Formula One Team, Ronald says the state visit is not only about discussing the key issues on the agenda, but also to get to know each other and build trust.

"In life, when we have problem, when we are trying to achieve big things, we go to the people we know and trust. So this visit represents such a strong opportunity to build that trust and understanding, not just between the titles of the President, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor 1, but also to build the trust as people. And so I think a significant event of this visit is the meeting at Chequers. This will be a tremendous opportunity for them to relax and know each other."

Ronald was also Chairman of the British East Asia Council which was established in 2014.

He has been an advocate for George Osborne's proposal that the UK should be China's best trading partner in the west.

"There is still the predominant belief throughout the world that China just represents a low cost labor 2 resource. But anybody that's visited China extensively which I have, quickly realize that this is far from the truth. Its modern infrastructure 3, the speed of which it propagate its infrastructure, and the discipline in these manufacture construction as well as the technologies, are absolutely cutting edge."

Ronald spokes 4 highly of China's plan to upgrade its manufacturing industry and says the Sino-UK relationship is reciprocal, giving the UK's Northern Powerhouse plan as an example.

"You have the 'One Belt One Road' initiative and we have the 'Northern Powerhouse' project, these two policies are very synergistic. They show the visionary capabilities 5 of the two country's leaderships. And behind that is really a much stronger message of not just building collaboration 6 and trade, but also trying to encourage the sharing of technologies."

During his stay in the UK, President Xi Jinping will travel to Manchester and visit one of the world's leading research institutes on grapheme.

Ronald has been campaigning for the use of composite structures since the 1970s and he's confident about the future commercialization of this high tech material.

"Graphene is the next generation of this incredible family of materials which are systematically 7 changing our world. What you need in developing this technology is scalability. It's something a country like China excels at. So I think that the size of China and its ability to multiply and increase supply chains will make it a strong partner in the development of this material."

It's reported that the Chinese telecommunications equipment company Huawei is planning to unveil an investment into grapheme during the Chinese President's visit.

For CRI, I'm Duan Xuelian in London.