Hinkley Point C Nuclear Power Station

Total investment: 14 billion pounds ($21 billion; 18 billion euros)

Timeframe: Operation to commence in 2023 if built on time

Chinese investors: a combined 30 to 40 percent stake in the consortium from China General Nuclear Power Group and China National Nuclear Corp

The two planned reactors are at Hinkley Point C in Somerset.

The project is now waiting a final investment decision after the European Commission gave its project approval in October.

Cooperation between EDF Group of France, the lead investor, and its Chinese partners on Hinkley Point C was first announced by British Chancellor George Osborne when he visited China in October.

In March, EDF signed a global partnership in the nuclear field with China General Nuclear during President Xi Jinping's visit to France.

Nigel Cann, Hinkley Point C construction director with EDF Energy, says its Chinese partners can bring valuable experience from the construction of nuclear projects in China, especially in keeping the project on schedule and within budget.

Chinese nuclear companies can gain valuable lessons about the UK's nuclear market through the project and gain experience working with UK regulators, which will help them invest in future nuclear projects in the UK, Cann says.

"It's important to realize that Hinkley Point is a first step for Chinese partners in the UK," he says.

High Speed 2

Total investment: 42.6 billion pounds

Timeframe: Completion of phase 1 is planned for 2026; phase 2 at around 2032

Chinese investors: The UK and Chinese governments have expressed willingness to work together on the project

The High Speed 2 rail line will be built in two phases and will serve four cities: London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester.

In January 2012, the construction of phase 1 between London and Birmingham was approved. Construction is set to begin in 2017 with an indicated opening date of 2026. In January 2013, the preliminary phase 2 route was announced with a planned completion date of 2032.

The UK Department for Transport estimated the cost at 43 billion pounds.

In a joint statement during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to the UK in June, the two governments said that "both sides agree to promote substantive cooperation on rail, including high-speed rail in areas including design, engineering, construction, supply operation and maintenance on projects in China and the UK."

Manchester Airport City

Total investment: 800 million pounds

Timeframe: to be completed in the next 10-15 years

Chinese investors: Beijing Construction Engineering Group International has taken a 20 percent stake in the joint venture and will complete 50 percent of the construction work.

The 800 million pound Airport City Manchester project will be completed over the next 10-15 years and is expected to create more than 16,000 jobs.

Airport City, spread over an area of 465,000 square meters, will include offices, hotels and facilities for advanced manufacturing, logistics and warehousing.

In addition to Beijing Construction Engineering Group's 20 percent stake in the joint venture, other partners include Carillion (20 percent) and the Greater Manchester Pension Fund (10 percent), with Manchester Airport Group holding the remaining 50 percent.

"Airport City Manchester is our first project in the United Kingdom and Europe, but we want to build on its success to win more contracts in the UK and establish a presence here," says Xing Yan, managing director of Beijing Construction Engineering Group International.

"We already have about 25 employees in Manchester preparing for the project, and we'll add more later. The construction work will be done by local workers or employees subcontracted to local construction companies."

Aside from construction, Beijing Construction Engineering Group will also help market the project to Chinese companies in China that wish to rent or buy office space at the business center. The group conducted a roadshow for the project in Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen from June 9 to 13.

Asian Business Park

Total investment: $1.51 billion

Timeframe: To be completed over the next decade

Chinese investors: Advanced Business Park

Developer Advanced Business Park will transform roughly 14 hectares of land in East London's Royal Albert Docks into a modern business hub over the next decade in a project, to be called Asian Business Park.

By developing an office complex to host Asian and European businesses, Advanced Business Park can help foster Asian-European business links and generate economic growth for the Royal Albert Docks, says Xu Weiping, the company's chairman.

"To accommodate Asian business' expansion to Europe, we have decided to build a large office complex, and we have already received a high level of interest from companies wanting to occupy office space here," says Xu.

The site chosen for the development will include 4.7 million square feet of floor space. More than 1 billion pounds of investment will go into the project, of which roughly two-thirds will be from bank loans. Advanced Business Park will foot the rest of the bill with its own capital, says John Miu, executive director of ABP London.

Construction could start before the end of the year, says Miu, with the first phase slated to be completed by 2018. He adds that all three phases will be done by 2025. The business park will be able to accommodate more than 400 businesses and is expected to generate 20,000 jobs.

Xu says because Asian Business Park is a large project to be built over a relatively short period of time, he hopes his team will bring a Chinese development model to the project. At the core of this model is standardization, he says.

"Most European office complexes are built step by step as driven by customer demand, but we at ABP will build the whole development at once to achieve economies of scale and speed," Xu says.

Asian Business Park

Xu Weiping, chairman of Asian Business Park.  Photos By Jian Shan / China Daily

(China Daily European Weekly 01/23/2015 page7)