TNAG-1388-FCO40-1859-Future-of-Hong-Kong-Sino-British-Joint-Declaration-1985 — Page 308

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To:. addressees on list attached

TRADE MISSION TO CHINA LED BY THE MINISTER WITHOUT PORTFOLIO, 27 FEBRUARY 9 MARCH 1985

REQUEST FOR BRIEFING:

DEADLINE TUESDAY 5 FEBRUARY

1 As most addressees know, the Minister without Portfolio, the Rt Hon Lord Young of Graffham, will lead а small mission of about 10 businessmen to China at the beginning of March. The mission stems from a proposal put forward by the Prime Minister during her visit to Peking in December to sign the UK-China Agreement on Hong Kong. The mission's objective is to follow up the Prime Minister's visit (which was too brief to allow time for much discussion about Trade), and so contribute to

the overall UK export effort in China, where our Trade prospects will, it is hoped, have benefitted from the signing of the Agreement. The Prime Minister is taking a close personal interest in the preparations for the mission, which are being c rdinated by this

Department.

2 At the moment of writing, the delegation's membership has not yet been finally decided. It is expected to include senior representatives from GEC, Cable and Wireless, British Aerospace and Rolls Royce. Lord Young will be deciding on the remaining six or so businessmen shortly. The mission has generated much interest, and applications to 00 on the mission have been received from many more companies than could possibly be included in a single mission.

3

The delegation's official host will be Madame Chen Muhua, Minister of Foreign Economic Relations, and Trade. Its itinerary is expected to include about 3 working days in Peking and then Shanghai and Guangzhou (Canton). We expect Lord Young to call on the leading Ministries and other bodies concerned with trade and economic affairs, and he will need to have a thorough brief.

4

The purpose of this minute is to request contributions to the brief. I attach a list of briefs, indicating the person who I suggest should be responsible for each. In the case of DTI Industry Divisions I would be grateful if the Head of Division could arange for the Division's response to be co-ordinated by the appropriate person in his Division..

to

5

I would hope that most briefs could be not more than one side of paper, though some will have to be

to be longer. Please could every brief begin with a point or points to make which should be as specific as possible, or perhaps a question to ask and/or defensive points to deal with points which might be raised by the Chinese side.

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