6 senior representatives of Nanjing Automobile Company, the new owners, of MG Longbridge plant, visited the Houses of Parliament on Friday as the guests of Northfield Labour MP, Richard Burden.
Director of NAC UK, Mr Wang Yao Ping was joined by Company secretary Ms Sarah Xu and Legal Advisor, Mr Chai Cheng. They were accompanied by two senior consultants to the NAC Board, Mr Wang Wang Lin and Mr Xu Xin as well as by Mr Ding Song, a member of the NAC Supervisory Board.
During their tour, the party visited the chambers of both the House of Commons and House of Lords and Richard Burden briefed them about the history of the Palace of Westminster and some of the workings of the UK’s multi Party Parliamentary system.
“The NAC delegation was fascinated by some of the traditions which we have in Parliament. Like many first time visitors to the place, they were also surprised by how small the House of Commons is. Compared to their own Great hall of the People in Beijing, it must seem tiny.”
“They are genuinely interested to find out more about how we do things over here. I was able to say something about some of the ways our democracy operates over here. NAC have confirmed that they aim to produce sports cars at Longbridge from next year and they see Birmingham as their long term home in Europe. Building close economic relationships between Birmingham and China could be really significant for our City. The visit by senior Chinese government figures to Birmingham last weekend helps foster those relationships and I am sure the NAC delegations visit to Parliament this week is another step along that road.”