Rush to China begins to pay dividends

THERE HAS been a lot of traffic this year between China and Ireland.

The exchanges kicked off with the visit in February of the man in the frame to be appointed China’s supreme leader later this year, vice president Xi Jinping.

This was followed soon after by Taoiseach Enda Kenny’s return visit to China, on which he was accompanied by Minister for Enterprise Richard Bruton.

Soon after that came Minister of State Ciarán Cannon, then Minister for Agriculture Simon Coveney.

The visits produced several high-profile memorandums of understanding (MoU), which dangle the prospect of future trade rather than offer anything meaty right now. So following up on the MoUs is vital to ensure more trade between the two countries.

Enterprise Ireland’s head of international sales and partnering Kevin Sherry was in Beijing last week to follow up on some of the commitments and MoUs signed during the various visits.

“Enterprise Ireland publishes its annual report in June, and those figures in general, and specifically the figures for China, will reflect the increased effort that’s been put into China,” Sherry says.

He is confident that more ministerial visits will take place in the second half of the year, particularly in the final quarter.

Two-way trade between Ireland and China in 2011 totalled €4.5 billion, and for five years China has been Ireland’s largest trading partner in Asia. In the past three years, Ireland has run a surplus in its trade with the country.

During his visit, Sherry attended China’s first national services trade fair, the Beijing Fair or the China International Fair for Trade in Services, at Beijing’s National Convention Centre.

Ireland held various workshops and networking events at the Beijing Fair, as well as one-on-one talks between companies such as educational institutions and would-be agents.

During his visit, he held high- level meetings with Ministry of Commerce officials, and he said that Enterprise Ireland was particularly looking for opportunities outside Beijing and Shanghai, in cities such as Dalian, Wuhan, Chengdu and Shenzhen.

“This has been a very productive week from our perspective,” Sherry adds.

“We have continued to raise our profile and followed up on the commitments from the visits. This has been a further step in deepening the relationship both at an industry level and an official level.”