GUERNSEY’s finance sector can expect to reap the rewards of a visit by officials from China’s largest city soon, according to GuernseyFinance chief executive Peter Niven.

He said it would take time but eventually the delegation from Shanghai that included its vice-mayor, Tu Guangshao (pictured), the director general of Shanghai Municipal Financial Services Office and the president of China Foreign Exchange Currency Trading Centre, would pass on to other finance practitioners in the country their positive views of Guernsey as a good place for business.

During their visit, Mr Tu alluded to doing just that and told the local hosts – who included Chief Minister Lyndon Trott – that Shanghai would like to use Guernsey as a model for further developing its own financial services sector.

‘We won’t see the benefits immediately, but it’s a long-term initiative and is about making contacts and ensuring that people such as the vice-mayor know what we’re about,’ said Mr Niven.

‘We all came away from the day thinking it had gone much better than we could ever have hoped and we are going to have further talks with the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the vice-mayor in April.’