A businessman from Gloucestershire is among the select delegation currently on a three-day trade visit to China with Prime Minister Theresa May.
Mrs May, who is also accompanied by her husband Philip May and the Secretary of State for International Trade Liam Fox, is attempting “to build on the existing strong ties between our two countries”.
Among the chosen few business people invited to attend is on Neill Ricketts, the founder of graphene specialist Versarien plc (LON:VRS) and Gloucester MP Richard Graham.
Mr Ricketts is also a member of the local enterprise partnership for Gloucestershire, GFirst LEP.
Speaking ahead of the visit, the Prime Minister said: “There are huge trade opportunities in China that we want to help British businesses take advantage of.
“My visit will intensify the “Golden Era” in UK-China relations. The depth of our relationship means we can have frank discussions on all issues.”
Just last month the Cheltenham-headquartered company announced it had entered into a £55million partnership to open a new manufacturing plant in China. Its shares rose 35 per cent.
It has signed what is called a non-binding Letter of Intent (LOI) with the Shandong Institute of Industrial Technology Fund, Jinan Qing Na Material Technology Co Ltd and Jinan Innovation Zone Administrative Committee ‘with the view to establishing the China-UK Jinan Graphene Industrial Park in the Jinan Innovation Zone, Shandong Province.’
