April 2013
Martin visits China
On 2nd of March, managing director Martin Sullivan, took off from Heathrow Airport and started his 7 day Trade Mission in Chongqing. Chongqing, regarded as the gateway to western China, is a rapidly expanding metropolis and home to 31 million people. It is one of the commercial centres of interior china.
Over a decade, Wales and Chongqing have established a very strong bond, which owes its conception to the personal recommendation of Premier Wen Jiabao during his visit to Wales in 2000, the same year as the establishment of the British Consulate in Chongqing.
This years trade mission coincided with the 7th “Wales Week” in Chongqing. As one of the delegates representing the creative industry in Wales, Martin was invited to the opening of a large-scale exhibition named “Wales: Home of the Red Dragon” in the Three Gorges Museum of China. During the opening reception, Martin and the Design Consultancy representatives in Chongqing shared their experience of working in both the UK and China and many expressed the wish to establish a continued dialogue with The Urbanists. The Housing and Heritage Minister, Huw Lewis welcomed and invited all delegates for an authentic Chongqing dinner.
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During his trip, Martin was also invited to deliver a lecture to over 100 people in Chongqing University on the topic of sustainable masterplanning. Martin introduced the background of the British Urban Design approach and presented two projects of differing scales: a large-scale planning project, which The Urbanists have recently completed “ The Circuit of Wales” and an award winning residential development project led by Powell Dobson Architects, “Mariners Quay”. The university event organiser said, “many students found the lecture very useful and stimulating.”
