While Great Britain’s sporting stars have been striking gold in China, a leading business figure from the West Midlands has been bestowed with a major honour.
Mark Eaton, who heads the China Trade Liaison Office for the West Midlands at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, has been granted honorary citizenship in the Shandong Province of the country.
The province, which is home to 91 million people, honours only two foreign nationals with the status each year and Eaton has been granted the honour in light of his work in developing trade between the West Midlands and the region over two decades.
He will now travel out to China later this month to receive the honour at a ceremony in Qingdao.
Leading officials will receive Eaton when he arrives and he will also be expected to give a series of interviews to an array of media outlets including the province’s TV network.
Eaton said: “I am thrilled and honoured by this. Over the years I have developed great contacts and made many friends in this area of China.
“And, in that time, the relationship between the West Midlands and Shandong has been getting stronger year on year and the commitment from the Chamber and UKTI to this region couldn’t not be greater.
“I believe I have played a part in that and now genuinely believe that there is no greater tie-in between two areas of this country and China, than this special bond between the West Midlands and Shandong.
“I am delighted that I have been granted this honour in recognition of that I believe it will further strengthen the relationship.
“For instance, when I take a trade mission across to Shandong in the future, it will make new contacts sit up and take notice because so few foreign nationals are granted honorary citizenship.
“I hope, therefore, that this enables further businesses in our region to benefit from the work we have being doing in China, and particularly, Shandong over a substantial period of time.”
As well as the obvious benefits to honorary citizenship, it will also allow Eaton to travel to and from China without a visa.
Meng Fanxue, a senior official in Shandong, said: “I am extremely delighted for Mark. There are only 20 overseas partners that have achieved this reward among more than 200,000 overseas investors and long term business partners of Qingdao which represents the international cooperation relationship of the whole city and region of more than 19 million people.”
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