City of London realizes how critical visa and other business issues are

Discussion about Britain's visa system is not new, but it constantly draws attention from business, media, and government officials.

Last month, Britain's Home Secretary Theresa May agreed to do more to improve the visa system to attract more Chinese visitors to Britain amid reports suggesting the country is losing out on potentially significant revenue from Chinese visitors because of a restrictive visa regime.

This is welcome news in the City of London. As the organization that looks after the city on behalf of all who live, work and visit here, the City of London strongly supports measures that simplify visa applications, because clearly we want to attract the best and brightest people in global business.

We are glad to see there are already some changes with respect to China. For example, last year the British government sent out extra consular staff, including 150 to China, to help deal with the expected increase in visa applications as the Olympics approached. A number of policy changes in relation to China were also announced in December, including a business network with dedicated embassy staff to help businesses with their British visa requirements, and translated online Chinese application forms. However, there is scope for significant further improvements, including satisfying the visa application form process and a greater willingness to give longer-term visas.

Competition will always be a feature of financial services, and there will always be rivalry among global financial centers. For instance, China's liberalizing of its currency has spurred the development of the offshore yuan market, and global financial centers such as London, Hong Kong and Singapore all compete for a slice of the pie.

We have launched the City of London initiative on London as a center for yuan business, which brings together 10 leading global banks in the offshore yuan market, including three major Chinese banks in London: Bank of China, China Construction Bank, and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China. Figures published by the City of London this year show that the London yuan market grew significantly in the first six months of last year, with transaction volumes in foreign exchange up 150 percent overall, and trade services growing strongly.

There are plenty of reasons why London is ranked in the top tier of offshore yuan centers. Besides having the widest range of yuan products and services in its time zone as well as large global foreign exchange trading volumes, an openness toward business and the ability to hire top talent all ensure London is a prominent choice. To strengthen London's competitiveness we need to maintain a visa regime that is adaptable to the realities of a fast-changing global economic landscape. This presents Britain with a challenge and one we must rapidly meet.

Without doubt, the growth of China's economy has benefited Britain through mutual trade and inward investment. Much of this has been in the financial and related business services sectors. The Chinese financial services sector has had a long presence in Britain, and in the past few years in particular there has been growing interest from Chinese firms seeking to establish operations in London and an increase in the scale of existing operations. This is of significant benefit to London and Britain as a whole, bringing additional capital and boosting job creation. For example, Huawei's expansion plan will create more than 500 jobs in Britain within five years on top of its current 800 employees already in the country.

In addition, China has been a significant investor in Britain. In September 2009 the China Investment Corporation took a 19 percent stake in Songbird Estates, owners of Canary Wharf, and last year took a portfolio stake in Thames Water. Emerging and fast-growing economies, like China, will be a driving force for global growth over the coming years. This makes it imperative for the British government to take a serious look at all potential challenges to trade, including visa policy, from fast-growing economies and then to implement changes to remove them.

We always say London is a completely open marketplace and consider its diversity its strength. Businesses of all sizes and nationalities are served by the financial sector. More than 250 foreign banks have operations in London and more than 300 languages are spoken here, both of which show the international appeal of the capital. The City of London especially benefits from being a truly international market place teeming with ideas and skills.

The growing world market for financial and professional services has created a generation of well-educated business people with strong values. Chinese financial and business minds are a welcome part of this group. Like many others, they gravitate to London because of our financial and services cluster, as well as the cultural and lifestyle attractions here.

We recognize that talent is mobile and we want to attract such individuals from around the world, regardless of their nationality, which in turn makes London the international financial center it is today. Therefore, we must remove any unnecessary obstacles for those who wish to come and work here or risk losing our magnetic power. Ultimately, the possible influx of more highly skilled workers would bolster London's talent pool and bring more wealth to the city, giving a real boost to the British economy.

China's fast growing economy offers not only trade opportunities but also a rapidly growing pool of tourist visitors. Last year London hosted the Olympic Games. Figures from the Office for National Statistics showed 179,000 Chinese visitors came to the country, a big increase from 2011. They brought an average of 1,676 pounds (1,980 euros) per visit, nearly three times as much as other visitors, which is incredibly valuable to the British economy. Instead of seeing these Chinese visitors potentially turn their back on Britain over visa curbs, we would like to see the Olympic effect continue.

For several years the City of London Corporation has encouraged engagement between financial and professional services businesses and representatives of other professional institutions with the British government, providing a forum for useful discussions between the business City and the Home Office on this vital issue for British competitiveness and economic growth.

Our representatives regularly engage with policymakers on migration related issues, such as potential obstacles in the visa application process, for China in particular but also other international markets, and we also commission reports supporting our approach. Our November 2011 publication Access to Global Talent was commended as a sectoral leader and was well received in government, by legislators in Parliament and by business people.

Moreover, we are working to support Chinese financial and services institutions in the city, promoting direct dialogue between foreign and Chinese practitioners and drawing on London's strengths as a center for financial advice. The City of London also works closely with the Association of Foreign Banks and Chinese banks in London on issues affecting the operation of these firms in Britain. We helped both the Bank of Communications and Agricultural Bank of China set up their subsidiaries in London and with their opening events in November 2011 and February last year respectively.

As the world leading financial center, London's global links are crucial to its success and increasingly this means looking East.

Next month I will travel to Beijing and Shanghai. I hope to bring even more positive messages with me - about trade, mutual investment, education and training and the ease of visiting Britain for our Chinese friends.

The author is policy chairman of the City of London. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily 05/24/2013 page11)