Tyneside Marine school eyes growth in China

A North East college has set a course for export growth by developing new links with China.

South Shields Marine School, part of South Tyneside College has used support from UKTI to explore the Chinese market as it looks for consumers of its marine education and training courses.

The school has used Overseas Market Introduction Service (OMIS) in-depth reports to size up the Chinese market.

Gary Hindmarch, vice principal Maritime and Higher Education at South Shields Marine School, explained: “We’ve been working to build relationships in China for some time and have been working closely with UKTI, in particular Dr Zhengming Yang, whose previous experience of being in the Chinese Navy as a submariner proved particularly useful.

“The Chinese economy is still expanding and demand for international relationships is growing, which was evident in our recent meetings at four separate specialist maritime centres in Qingdao, Nantong, Zhoushan and Guangzhou.

“From these meetings we have agreed to explore further opportunities for teacher exchange, progression opportunities for students in both China and the UK, and technology transfer to improve our joint training provision. This set of meetings is just the start and we will go on to agree more areas of collaboration and joint working.”

For more information about the support services available through UKTI to help your company succeed overseas call the North East International Trade Hotline on 0845 05 05 054 or email: enquiries@uktinortheast.org.uk. You can also follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/UKTINorthEast.