Mission to China reaps rewards

IRISH firms have signed contracts worth €125.8 million during the Government-led trade mission to China last week, Enterprise Ireland has said.

The deals included direct product sales, acquisitions, distribution agreements, and more.

Among the most significant was Kerry Group’s €20m investment package to expand its food business in the country.

The spend will cover the acquisition of Lanli, a Chinese food company in Hangzhou in the Zhejiang Province, and the construction of a manufacturing facility on a 16-acre green-field site in the same city.

Other significant deals included a multi-million contract signed by Cork firm Farran to provide imaging system technology to China’s spaceflight programme, and a number of agreements reached by Dublin company Mobile Tornado to have its products distributed throughout the country.

Enterprise Ireland said it was satisfied with the outcome, which was a significant improvement on the last trade mission to China, in 2003, when some €40m of contracts were signed.

However, the trade mission results were dwarfed by the announcement by Dublin-based Treasury Holdings of a €1.2bn joint venture with a Chinese partner to develop a 900-acre island site off the coast of Shanghai. Treasury was not a participant in the trade mission, which was led by Bertie Ahern.

However, the company tied in its schedule with that of the trade mission so it could brief the Taoiseach on the ambitious development plan shortly before the official announcement was made in Shanghai.

Elsewhere, the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland and the Irish Business Employers’ Confederation signed agreements with their Chinese counterparts to foster mutual understanding and co-operation.