UK PM Brown opens London Stock Exchange office in Beijing

(18 Jan 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and officials walking towards a stage at ceremony to mark opening of London Stock Exchange office in Beijing
2. Cutaway of media
3. Wide of Brown and officials standing beneath screen
4. Close of Brown
5. Brown walking to podium
6. SOUNDBITE: (English) Gordon Brown, British Prime Minister:
"I believe that this announcement today and this opening today means good fortune both for London and for China."
7. Cutaway of Chinese officials
8. Brown cutting ribbon during opening ceremony with London Stock Exchange chief executive Clara Furse (on right)
9. Mid of Gordon Brown and officials raising glasses to toast the opening of new London Stock Exchange office in Beijing
STORYLINE:
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown opened a local office of the London Stock Exchange in Beijing on Friday, stepping up its rivalry with US markets to attract listings by fast-growing Chinese companies expanding abroad.
"I believe that this announcement today and this opening today means good fortune both for London and for China," Brown said before cutting a ribbon to officially open the new office.
Brown has launched a major offensive to position Britain as China's premier international business partner, offering London as a base for distribution of China's state fund for private investment.
Brown's two-day visit, which also takes in Shanghai, is calculated to gain an advantage on the United States and the rest of Europe in investment opportunities and economic benefits offered by both China's increasingly open
domestic consumer market and growing money pot for overseas investment.
Brown said China's 200 (b) billion US dollar government investment fund could offer significant capital for British businesses, adding he did not share the concerns of other countries about such state funds.
China has increasingly become the focus of a charm offensive from Europe and the United States as its explosive growth slows little signs of slowing, despite the headwinds of the global credit crisis.

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