'Chollywood' to Forge Close Links with UK Film Industry

2013/12/3 10:36:00 (Beijing Time)   Source:Express    By:Max Evans

The Prime Minister is on a charm offensive after landing in Beijing today for a trip to boost trade links and restore relations with the Asian giant after the fallout from his meeting with the Dalai Lama.

Mr Cameron hopes to strengthen ties between the British and the Chinese film industries to copy the hugely successful collaboration on James Bond blockbuster, Skyfall.

Defying scepticism in Brussels about an an EU-China trade deal, Mr Cameron promised to throw his "full political weight" behind such an arrangement, which the Government says could be worth up to £1.8 billion to Britain each year.

"Put simply, there is no country in the western world more open to Chinese investment, more able to meet the demands of Chinese consumers, or more willing to make the case for economic openness in the G8, the G20 and the European Union.

"And there is no country more ready to forge a dialogue of mutual respect and understanding that can address issues of concern and advance our shared interests in the world," Cameron wrote in a Chinese news magazine.

China's film industry is already the second biggest in the world - generating almost $15 billion along with Chinese TV - and will surpass that of the US by 2020, according an Ernst & Young report last year.

Economic activity between Britain and China was held up after Mr Cameron met with the Dalai Lama last year.

It was not until October that exchanges resumed between the nations after assurances from London that the Prime Minister had no further planes to meet with the man.

Mr Cameron is leading a delegation, which includes Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore,  McLaren Formula One boss Ron Dennis and a troop of FTSE-100 executives, in what is Britain's largest overseas trade and ministerial mission.

The Prime Minister will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping for talks and dinner today, before traveling to Shanghai and returning to Beijing tomorrow for talks with the premier, Li Keqiang.

He will visit Chengdu on Wednesday and return home in the evening in time for George Osborne's autumn statement on Thursday.

The Prime Minister's claims to be best placed to champion China in the west will infuriate some in Brussels. The offer comes months after the Asian powerhouse and the EU came close to a trade war amid claims Chinese firms were selling 21 billion euros worth of solar panels below cost price.

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