Dahua Technology’s global headquarters in China were visited by a senior trade delegation from Leeds as part of a trip to capitalise on existing trade arrangements and reinforce a longstanding relationship between the region and the Chinese city of Hangzhou.
Among the Leeds City Region delegation were representatives from Leeds City Council, Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire Combined Authority, Bradford Council, the Universities of Bradford, Leeds and Huddersfield and businesses from the region. In addition to discussing cooperative business opportunities, the visitors also enjoyed a tour of Dahua’s HQ, including its cutting-edge demonstration room.
Encourage more investment
The visit comes on the back of Dahua Technology’s UK subsidiary opening a new office in Leeds to provide support for local distributors, integrators and installers, as well as to deliver training and client demonstrations.
We saw a hugely positive outcome of this activity with the announcement that Hangzhou-based Dahua, are opening an office in Leeds"
“This trade and investment mission will build on our long and prestigious relationships with our Chinese partners,” said Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council. “We saw a hugely positive outcome of this activity with the announcement that Hangzhou-based Dahua, makers of video surveillance equipment, are opening an office in Leeds. They join Hisense which has its UK HQ in Leeds and Silver Cross owner Fosun. We want to encourage more investment and trade between our cities.”
Digital technology sector
As part of a presentation to the delegation party, Jason Zhao, Dahua VP, General Manager of Overseas Business Centre, said “We are very honoured to be part of this historical development, having held a relationship with Leeds before we were even established in the UK. Three years ago, we opened our first UK office with only a few people, and even fewer local employees. We’ve had significant growth over these past three years, where we now have over 40 people supporting the UK & Ireland markets. Three of them are staff hired from Leeds and the surrounding area.”
Hangzhou and Leeds have been partnered since 1988, cooperating in the fields of business, education and culture and resulting in links between many businesses and public bodies. The Leeds City Region covers Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York. It has a £1 billion-plus Local Growth Deal to boost jobs and growth across the region. It is also home to the UK’s largest regional financial centre and has a digital technology sector now worth more than £6.6 billion
