China-UK Regional Business Summit was held in Birmingham on 26 February (London time). Zhou Tiegen, Mayor of Xuzhou, made a keynote speech at the summit. He said, “The UK has rich experience in promoting industrial, urban and ecological transformation. The successful transformation of such cities as Birmingham and Manchester has provided useful references for us. We hope to further strengthen mutual exchanges and cooperation and learn from the advanced experience of these cities in the UK, so as to achieve the better and faster transformation and upgrade of Xuzhou.”

The next day, led by Zhou Tiegen and Wang Anshun, Mayor and Deputy Mayor of Xuzhou respectively, the delegation visited the British quintessential department store House of Fraser (Oxford Street Branch) and the world’s largest toy store Hamleys (Regent Street Flagship Store). They were accompanied by Wu Gang, Nigel Oddy, Peter Gross and Gudjon Reynisson, respectively Vice President of Sanpower Group, CEO and COO of House of Fraser and CEO of Hamleys.

In House of Fraser (Oxford Street Branch), Zhou Tiegen listened to the introduction to the house brands, own-bought mode, online POS terminals, online shopping and offline delivery areas and other characteristic business items of House of Fraser with great interest and spoke highly of House of Fraser’s the house brands. With a long history, House of Fraser is also an excellent department store with the honour and authorisation granted by the British royal family. Having known the relevant details, Zhou Tiegen and Wang Anshun took a picture in front of the sign of the royal family’s authorisation.

 

 

Later, the delegation went to the world’s largest toy store: Hamleys (Regent Street Flagship Store). As a famous scenic spot in London, the biggest charm of this 256-year-old British-style toy store is its experience-oriented shopping scenes and amusement-park-like shopping environment specially created for children and parents. Members of the royal family and many Hollywood stars are also frequent visitors to this toy store. All the toys you can dream of are available here, including toys of such brands as Disney, Paddington Bear, Hello Kitty, Minion and Lego as well as a lot of electronic products such as robots, wireless remote-controlled toys and video games. The delegation members all bought their favourite toys yielding to the temptation of this “toy museum”.

 

 

After the visit, Zhou Tiegen noted that Xuzhou was actively striving for transformation and upgrade as one of the four key cities taking part in the joint working group for the promotion of the China-UK regional business. He thought highly of Sanpower’s commercial strategy and looked forward to Hamleys and House of Fraser’s arrival in Xuzhou.