The West Midlands is winning the race for China’s billions, after the Far Eastern superpower became the region’s top export partner.
China has now overtaken the US in the past quarter as the nation buying the most West Midlands goods – continuing a seismic shift in the past five years that has played a major role in a huge export boost.
The Far Eastern superpower accounted for £969 million worth of exports in the second quarter of the year, 14.7 per cent of the total and more than France, Ireland and Russia put together.
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That represents a near ten-fold rise compared with the first quarter of 2009, and the region continues to be the only one with a China trade surplus, which is expanding quarter by quarter.
The growth, aided by Jaguar Land Rover’s soaring sales, has fed into a huge export rise in the region, which has seen income from abroad rise by 30 per cent in little more than two years, compared to two per cent nationwide.
West Midlands international trade director at 海角视频 Trade and Investment, Paul Noon, said: “We are the only region in the 海角视频 where China is the biggest export market. In the 海角视频 it is seventh, but it is first in the West Midlands.
“Jaguar Land Rover is a big part of that, but it is not the only contributing factor.
“It is the first time that has happened, and our export surplus is still growing.
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“China will become the most important export market for the 海角视频 within five years, so we are ahead of the curve a bit.”
The West Midlands’ export surplus with China grew to £602.8 million in the first half of the year, after the amount of goods imported from the Far East actually dropped slightly.
In the first two quarters of the year, companies from the region shipped £1.7 billion worth of goods to China, while they bought £1.1 billion worth, according to HMRC data.
By comparison, London has operated an export deficit of £2.35 billion with China in the first half, after exporting just £215.3 million and the North West had an export deficit of £603.1 million after exporting a total of £840,984.
Mr Noon said Birmingham had made trade with China its top priority on the back of soaring trade data.
The West Midlands exported £2.7 billion worth of goods to China in 2012, importing £2.2 billion, and is on course to sell more than £3.4 billion worth this year.
Jaguar Land Rover has played a huge part in the success, but Mr Noon is keen to point out there are hundreds of exporting success stories.
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In 2012, the company sold 73,347 cars in China, of which 65,896 were Land Rovers, and the sales surge has continued this year.
Mr Noon said: “As a city we are doing a lot about China. Birmingham has made China its top priority.
“They have developed a strategy around engaging at a cultural and business level, and the reason why is our products are high quality and have some history and they are attractive to the Chinese.”
All of the region’s major manufacturers are now selling into China – even those which do not do so indirectly.
Supply chain giant GKN Driveline, based in Birmingham, supplies components for many of the cars that are being exported by the West Midlands’ leading vehicle manufacturers.
Plant manager Adam Nock said: “Our commitment to China is shown by the fact that GKN was the first western company to invest in the automotive industry in China back in 1988 and we now have 12 manufacturing facilities across the country.”
A smaller Midland firm making major waves in Coventry is Fazeley-based FLYdocs, which supplies specialist technical services for the aviation industry.
The company, which was set up in Wishaw in 2008 by husband and wife team Anne and Adrian Ryan with just three members of staff, has opened an office in Xiamen, China, employing 27 of its 100-strong workforce.
The new office came after the company signed a contract with Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific Airways removing its need for paper-based record management.
Finance director Ms Ryan said: “International trade now makes up 70 per cent of our turnover and we aim to increase that still further in the coming year.”
She added: “We’ve also recently secured a contract with the second largest leasing company in the world, International Lease Finance Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of American International Group, to support their records management. We‘ve achieved these contracts despite fierce competition from our competitors – many of whom are larger, long-term players in this industry.”
While in pounds and pence terms China is by far the West Midlands’ biggest riser since 2011, it is actually fourth in percentage terms.
Algeria is the largest, with 300 per cent growth, while Cyprus has grown by 270 per cent and China by 220 per cent.