British businesses are maintaining their long-term optimism and commitment to China based on seasoned judgment on the market's development, said Peter Burnett, the Chief Executive Officer of the China-Britain Business Council.
Burnett, head of the UK's national business network promoting trade and investment with China, said that UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy's visit to China last week has helped restore business confidence that had been lacking due to limited government-to-government dialog.
"This visit is one that has been much anticipated for quite a few weeks, months, indeed years, although there's been a change of government of course in the United Kingdom," he said.
Burnett noted that businesses are resilient and self-sufficient, with a strong understanding of their markets and customers. And not a single member of the CBBC decided to pull out, Burnett stressed, highlighting a general optimistic outlook on the Chinese economy.
"CBBC members, they know the markets, they understand their customers, they are all very good at business strategy. And that has never really changed in China. But the missing piece for the last few years has been this government-to-government engagement, that G-to-G dialogue is really, really important because it restores that level of confidence. You need to have confidence, if you're an exporting or an investing business, you need to have confidence in both markets, and that confidence has really returned in the last -- not completely, but it is returning, I would say -- in the course of the last three months or so," Burnett said.
"Fundamentally, businesses will look after themselves, they know the markets, they know their customers. As I have spoken to CBBC membership, I have never, I have not heard any of them say 'we don't, we don't have confidence in the future of China's economy.' And I haven't heard one of them say 'we're thinking of pulling out'," Burnett said.
China's fiscal authorities have applied a range of policies this year aimed at expanding effective domestic demand. Regarding this, Burnett said that British companies are encouraged by such measures.
"We've seen interest rates cuts, we have seen support for the stock market, for banks, for real estate, for local government financing vehicles, to address some of these deflationary concerns and basically to bring confidence back into the consumer market, into the consumption market, the real estate market, the stock exchange market, and the investment market. We're encouraged certainly by these measures. The members of CBBC really don't have a problem with the long term trajectory of Chinese economy," he said.
British companies remain confident of Chinese economy: trade body chief
The 11th Wuzhen Theatre Festival is underway in east China's famous water-town, gathering global artists to celebrate the art of performance and have cultural exchanges amidst the stunning backdrop of ancient canals and alleys.
The grand event opened on Oct 17 in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, under the theme of "solidity." The 11-day festival is divided into six sections - specially invited plays, outdoor carnival, emerging theatre artists' competition, Wuzhen dialogues, drama fair and granary reverie.
The dazzling ancient town carnival offers visitors more than 2,000 outdoor theatrical performances, including puppet shows, mimes and magic shows. At the same time, there is an installation art exhibition brought by the China Academy of Fine Arts on the Xishi River flowing through the water town.
This year, the Wuzhen Theatre Festival features 24 specially invited plays from 11 countries, five of which were performed for the first time in the world. The highly-anticipated dramas include "We Are Leaving" brought by Polish Nowy Teatr, "En attendant Godot" produced by Chinese director Meng Jinghui, and "River/Cloud" of Stan Lai Shengchuan, an American-born Chinese theatre director.
A total of 11 stages have been set up in the Wuzhen scenic area, some of which were built in the open air or near the water, for the specially invited plays, providing an impressive experience for the audience.
The emerging theatre artists' competition, previously known as the "Youth Competition," is also a major part of the festival, with the purpose of establishing a platform on which promising young artists can develop original works.
Another eye-catching event at the festival is the long street banquet, where theatre producers and media workers from all over the world sit around hundreds of square tables that are laid end to end without a gap along the ancient street. Enjoying the antique architectures and local cuisine, the participants can easily but deeply communicate across language barriers and cultural differences in a convivial atmosphere.
The entire town of Wuzhen, which has a history of more than 1,300 years, is transformed into a stage, and theatre lovers all over the world are invited to enjoy this tantalizing feast of the theatrical arts.
"Artists from across the world are gathering here sharing their passions in such a lovely night in Wuzhen. What everyone can feel is a unique lifestyle blending the tenderness of an ancient town where streams meander tranquilly under slender arches with contemporary arts mirroring our era. I think everyone can sense the aspiration for a beautiful life here. We pursue beauty and compassion, hope to explore the world in an artistic way, and also hope to demonstrate to the the whole world the glamor of our times," said Huang Lei, executive director of Wuzhen Theatre Festival.
Vibrant activities at Wuzhen Theatre Festival highlight charm of performance arts
