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In addition to my earlier reporting for Chinatown Magazine

Press Release

LONDON MAYOR KEN LIVINGSTONE TO VISIT CHINA

Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, will next week travel to China to promote the capital, and open representative offices in Beijing and Shanghai.

Mr Livingstone will travel with a high-level delegation of ambassadors for London including Peter Kenyon, the Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club, and Lord Coe, who led Britain’s bid for the 2012 Olympic Games. More than 50 business executives will also join the delegation.

Together they plan to promote London as a destination for business, tourism and study. China has become increasingly important to London.

The number of Chinese visitors to London has risen rapidly because of increased tourism, international business and study abroad. In 2004 there were 61,000 visitors to London from China, up 42 per cent on the previous year.

Mr Livingstone said: “China is one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, whilst London is a world-class centre of financial and business services.

A stronger relationship between China and London will therefore be mutually beneficial; we both have much to gain from building closer links with each other.”

“We are also keen to learn from each other as London and Beijing plan their Olympic games in 2012 and 2008 respectively.”

Seb Coe, Chairman of London 2012 said: “Hosting consecutive Games will build upon the increasingly close and warm relationship between our two cities and countries.

As the Games come to an end in 2008, Beijing will hand the Olympic flag to London and we will begin our Olympic journey.

Beijing is four years ahead in hosting the Games and we have much in common in our aspirations to inspire change as well as creating a sporting legacy for our respective cities.

I very much look forward to learning and sharing experiences.”

Peter Kenyon, the Chief Executive of Chelsea Football Club, said: "It is a great honour for the club to represent London in this way. Chelsea's roots and heritage are set in our location in the capital, and if this can assist in promoting London in China then we are delighted to do that.

We are also excited by the opportunity to help promote Chinese football and the English Premier League on this visit."

The week-long trip will see Mr Livingstone and his delegation:

- Open offices in Beijing and Shanghai to promote London as a destination for businesspeople, tourists and students.

- Meet the committee organising the 2008 Beijing Olympics to foster relations with the London 2012 committee.

- Sign agreements between Mr Livingstone and the mayors of Beijing and Shanghai to promote their cities together.

- Host events to highlight the attractions of London for tourists, students and the Chinese business community.

- Encourage Chinese companies to invest in London and list on the London Stock Exchange, where 29 Chinese companies are already listed.

- Have meetings with organisations including the China Enterprise Confederation, Europe China Investment and Trading, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, the Shanghai Federation of Industry and Commerce and the Shanghai Foreign Investment Development Board.

Here's my write up of the recent London Eye seminar.

(Information provided courtesy of Visit London.)

Since the signing of ‘Approved Destination Status’ in January 2005, the number of Chinese tourists visiting London has increased rapidly. This meant, for the first time, Chinese could come to the UK as leisure visitors as opposed to business people and students.

Here are some interesting facts;

For the last six years the UK has had the fastest growth rate of Chinese visitors to any European country.

In 2004, visits to the UK were up by 41% on 2003 – the best ever-recorded year for visits from China.

UK currently accounts for 0.6% of all outbound trips from China.

Total spend by Chinese visitors to the UK in 2004 is £131m.

UK is 16th in the actual ranking of top destinations for Chinese outbound travel in 2004.

Visit London launched a Chinese, mandarin language website in 2005, www.visitlondon.com.cn to promote London throughout China. It features things to do in London and encourages people to come to the city.

I attended a seminar held on the London Eye, hosted by Ken Kelling the Communications Director of Visit London, and here follows a few of the main points;

‘The Mayor of London, Ken Livingston will be travelling to Beijing and Shanghai in April 2006 to open up offices in both of those cities to promote London as a tourist destination.

In Beijing, there will be a weeklong London experience. This will feature, among other exhibits, a pod from the London Eye, a taxi, a Sentry Guard for photo opportunities, all kinds of interactive experiences and a very large floor mat, which will showcase all the iconic buildings, and views of London.

In Shanghai, there will be a similar public event that will be themed around fashion. Showcasing London as the centre of the fashion industry.

The Mayor will be travelling with representatives of various organisations including Visit London, Think London (for investment opportunities), Film London (promoting the local film industry) and other ambassadors from London’s creative and economic industries.’

London will be well represented and so in closing, on behalf of all Londoners to all Chinese tourists, I’d like to say “Huan ying ni men” (welcome you all) to London!

Attended a seminar held in the London Eye today.

It was hosted by Ken Kelling of Visit London (http://www.visitlondon.com), and highlighted the growth of Chinese tourism in London.

All aimed at promoting and expanding this growth and strengthening the links between China and London.

Excellent views of the London skyline during the 'flight'.

It's been a while since I was in the South Bank. Had to pop into the Anime Festival that is showing in the same area. Some great short films (anime) and comic books (manga) were on show in a gallery format.

Very cool.

Comic book superheroes have been with us for over 70 years.

Still going strong in large part due to the creativity of the teams working on each individual book.

Marvel, DC and Image Comics being the main standard bearers.

From Stan Lee and Jack Kirby to Mark Millar, Geoff Johns, Brian Bendis and Grant Morrison.

I've always got a graphic novel on the go to balance the business adventure.

Appreciating the finer points of creativity.

Currently, Mark Millar's 1st Wolverine trade.

With John Romita JR on art.

Damn fine reading.

That's why I like to think of myself as the comic book reading entrepreneur.

So now you know.

Double shot...

The Apprentice Vol#2 by Sir Alan Sugar. Entrepreneurial tips by the AMSTRAD founder and fellow Spurs fan.

I'd heard good things about The Apprentice, Donald Trump's US TV show and the first season of the English version. Sat down to the start of the second season and am loving every minute. (Thanks to Mike and Bharat for the tip!)

The Sales Bible by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Interesting story about The Sales Bible, I saw someone reading it on the Tube home one evening so checked it out online. Never heard of it before. This is one skill that I feel I need to hone and this book really hits the spot.

Great tips on selling yourself, your ideas, products and services.

Practice makes perfect.

Garth Ennis. Darick Robertson.

The Boys.

Wildstorm Comics

An alternate take on the superhero genre...

Like I said, the next big thing.

Mark my words.

Best business resource on TV at the moment...

The Apprentice.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/apprentice/

Have a respect for Sir Alan Sugar as I never knew his story and methods before.

Very inspiring. Practical lessons. Essential telly.

Wednesdays. 9pm.

My tip to win. Syed.

He talks a good game and is a good strategist.

Let's see.

On the comics news front, an interesting discussion developed on the Newsarama boards recently.

All debating the DC comics trades/graphic novel policy.

Basically, DC want a long wait time before monthly comics (monthlies) are reprinted and collected in trades. Some fans, like myself prefer a shorter time.

The argument is that sales of trades will affect sales of monthlies. I beleive there are more than enough fans of both mediums for both to thrive. Time will tell if this policy will hold out.

The topic was supposed to be about upcoming June DC titles and soon reverted back to topic.

Moral: Brands rule!!!

And finally, here's a recent interview with comic book writer Chuck Austen, who has had a raw deal with many comic book fans over his stuff. I thought it was a good read and great personal insight.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=6669

Been a busy old week and a half.

Saw a preview of the White Countess on the 15th. Set in 1930's Shanghai, China and starring Ralph Fiennes and a strong British cast. Rather good movie.

http://www.sonyclassics.com/whitecountess/

Had a couple of leaving do's later that week. Leaving for pastures new seems to be something of a current theme.

Yesterday, attended the launch of Chinese Cuisine Week at Yi Ban Restaurant at Royal Albert Dock. It basically promotes everyone in the UK to try Chinese food at a restaurant.

Fantastic venue, loads of guests, plenty of business networking and superb food. Try to go down there. All organised by Chinatown Magazine and Loon Fung Supermarkets. It was a total success. Learn more.

http://www.chinesecuisineweek.co.uk/

http://www.yi-ban.com/home.cfm

http://www.loonfung.com/

Just discovered, by chance when doing a favour for a friend, business rules regarding names of businesses. This covers what you can and cannot use for your business.

This info comes courtesy of the UK's Companies House literature and the approval of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry must be sought.

Basically, it means I can't use the words 'group of companies' or 'Foundation' without prior permission.

Should I have conducted better research beforehand? Well, yeah. But hey, it's a learning curve.

There's actually loads of words that you can't use. Some are obvious and it's all designed to protect the end user or customer so that's a good thing. Can't be masquerading as something that sounds official for the sake of it.

What's this got to do with Growlersworld? It means that the name Growlersworld Group of Companies can't be used to describe my venture. This ruling also applies to Growlersworld Foundation, which I've renamed Growlersworld Helping Others.

So there you go. You learn something new everyday...

Ok. The new front page picture of Growlersworld.com was taken at Streatham Rookery.

If you haven't been, what are you waiting for?

It's one of London's best kept secrets.

And yes, it's the same Streatham that's mentioned in the V for Vendetta graphic novel.

You know, the one that's written by Alan Moore and is being released as a major film this friday?

How do I know about Streatham's mention when I haven't read it myself?

I skimmed through it in a shop a while back.

Will have to get it at some stage.

Been having a bit of a clear out.

It's always good as I find it helps clear the mind too.

Focus.

An announcement for the newcomers amongst you.

Growlersworld.com is essentially an online magazine.

Growlersworld Business has replaced the Growlersworld Group section for greater clarity.

GROWLERVISION and Growlerworld Foundation have also been updated in a bid to simplify.

In preparation; movie reviews, trade paperback (graphic novel) reviews and a new guest writer.

I want to get enough articles 'in the can' before updating the site.

Yesterday, independent comic book publisher Speakeasy ceased its business.

While I didn't read their books, the post-mortem being held at Newsarama is nothing short of enlightening as the subject of business practice and sustainability is being addressed.

Now I'm no expert in the field but I know enough to recognise who are. It's great that retailers are getting involved and educating the fans/readers/customers about how the comic industry all works.

Nice to see and long may it continue.

Made Growler's Links a little bit more user friendly.

No longer will you have to scroll for hours to reach a link.

If you haven't ventured there yet, give it a try.

You just might find a gem...

Go,

http://www.growlersworld.com/growlerslinks.htm

The Richest Man in Babylon by George S Clason.

Simply excellent book.

Everyone should read it.

Schools should distribute it.

Pure quality.

And the artist for Neil Gaiman's The Eternals series from Marvel Comics is ...

John Romita JR.

Excellent choice. This will be a classic series.

First created by Jack Kirby in the late 1970's this is one of the jewels in Marvel's crown.

I heartily recommend the trade when it's released.

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