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understood to be the view of Mr Needham, namely that a big. effort should be made to take advantage of the enormous knowledge and contacts available in Hong Kong to attack the China market. We were doing what we could to interest the main British hongs in this approach. I referred to the seminar which was being organized on 5 October in the U. K. by Inchcapes. I suggested that a similar roadshow approach by Wheelock Marden might be a first step.
5. Hung was interested in the Inchcape approach but thought that Peter Woo's talk at Lancaster House had in many ways done the same thing. It would be more useful now for contacts to be made at individual company level. He is therefore looking to the Trade Commission and DTI to come up with suggestions for companies which fall in general terms within the parameters described above which might be interested in exploring with Wheelock Marden an initial entree into China or support for their current efforts in China. He mentioned Marks & Spencer more than once. I had the impression that he was already in touch with Colin Buchanan. As the next step, he would like to set up a meeting probably in the first week of August with you or David Smith and John Leece (?) of Wheelocks. This would begin to explore the sort of British company which might be interested in or interesting to the approach outlined above.
6. Comment: Hung is still feeling his way forward. One major factor is undoubtedly a wish to find tenants for the Group's various shopping mall developments planned or under development in China.
These could well offer opportunities to
UK equivalents of eg MacDonalds (Wimpy/Pizza Hut/Fish N' Chips?), and to retailers, possibly at the cheaper end of the market. But another element for Hung is to get Wheelocks up and running as a classic trading house again, an agency for companies looking for other sales opportunities in China
7. I am copying this minute to DTI and others. DTI and the Commercial Department in Peking may wish to consider whether they have possible candidate companies which we might put to Wheelocks in early August. No doubt CBTG and HKAG will be approached for their ideas. It would be helpful to have
comments before the end of this month.
22 July 1993
H Ll Davies
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