We all know the UK is filled with great goods and that there is a lot of demand for it. But it seems as if British businesses fail to take advantage of the export opportunities presented to them. For instance, they apparently don’t take the Chinese $80tn import market seriously, according to research from HSBC, the bank.
Having surveyed 1,205 companies across 11 key global economies, the researchers found that 27% of UK businesses who already have an export relationship with China ranks the country as a top three future market. That’s compared to 46% of other companies from around the world. Moreover, only 10% of these UK businesses see it as one of their top three export markets in the next three to five years, a number’s that is a stark contrast to the 15% global companies that already export to China that said the same. The low engagement is especially shocking given the government estimates that China will import $80tn worth of products between 2018 and 2022.
Commenting on the report Ian Tandy, head of global trade and receivables finance at HSBC UK, said: “China values UK high-tech goods and specialist expertise in fast-growth areas such as AI but British businesses could lose out to global competitors on the $80tn China opportunity. The UK boasts some world-leading businesses and we are increasingly exporting our knowledge-based economy to the world. China has moved up the value chain and its businesses are using AI and big data more and more as part of their growth plans. UK firms are in a fantastic position to take advantage of that and we shouldn’t get left behind global counterparts.”
So it’s definitely worth considering the Chinese market and thereby getting a taste of their trillion-dollar opportunity.
