In 2014, Nanjing Cenbest, a company under the Sanpower Group umbrella, acquired House of Fraser (HOF), the quintessential British department store. Two years later, the first flagship store of HOF China will open officially on 21 December. On 8 December, young Chinese and British leaders’ delegations attending the fourth meeting of the UK-China High-Level People-to-People Dialogue in Shanghai visited the first flagship store of HOF China in Xinjiekou, Nanjing, to witness the result of trade and business cooperation between China and the UK.

Members of Chinese delegation included Yuan Li, vice director of the International Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, and Jiang Min, vice chairman of the Jiangsu Youth Federation. Members of British delegation included Sir Martin Davidson, chairman of Great Britain China Centre, Andrew Gwynne, member of parliament for Denton and shadow secretary of state for the Labour Party, Will Quince, member of parliament for Colchester for the Conservative Party, Wes Streeting, member of parliament for Ilford North for the Labour Party, and Jessica Toale, executive director of the Centre for Development Results. The delegations were received by Yue Lei, senior vice president of Sanpower Group, Kong Jun, CEO of HOF China, Ren Qizhi, COO of Hamleys, Wang Kaimin, senior operating director of HOF China, and Ji Liang, deputy director of the Culture and Brand Management Centre.

Every detail in the store shows the craftsmanship and originality of House of Fraser: while the British-style mechanical clock on the roof strikes the hours, model guards decked out in the British Royal Military Band uniform march out of the clock in step with the bell to tell the time. Each nook and cranny harks back to a Scottish style: the white tone of the interior decoration sets off the golden lines and black iron artwork, and a colourful transparent glass dome reflects flecks of sunlight onto floor tiles featuring a Scottish tartan pattern at the entrance. The Chinese representatives and British members of parliament praised the decorations and said they made them feel as if they were standing in a department store in Britain.

Strolling along the “streets” within the store, the British MPs said that that it seemed as if they were walking along the streets of London. Several guests from the UK who are familiar with House of Fraser in Britain said that they are amazed by the store’s interior. The store’s colourful glass dome is exactly the same as that in the HOF store in Glasgow, while the artistic interior decoration is comparable with that of HOF Jolly’s in Bath, which is known as the “most beautiful department store in Britain”.

Hamleys and Brookstone, which opened on 1 October 2016 and act as anchor stores of the House of Fraser, have already made a splash. Hamleys in particular has the feel of an amusement park and is no different to the store in Britain, which took the visiting MPs back to their childhoods.

During the visit, all of the young Chinese and British leaders gave their thumbs up to integration of classic British heritage and oriental colour in the HOF store, and wished for the successful opening of the store. They also expected more consumers to visit this link between Chinese and English culture.