A trade delegation from Leeds visited Dahua Technology’s headquarters in China. 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. Besides discussing cooperative business opportunities, the visitors also enjoyed a tour of the HQ, including its demonstration room.
The visit comes after Dahua Technology’s UK subsidiary opened a new office in Leeds as support for local distributors, integrators and installers, and to deliver training and client demonstrations.
Councillor Judith Blake, Leader of Leeds City Council, said: “This trade and investment mission will build on our long and prestigious relationships with our Chinese partners. 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.”
As part of a presentation to the delegation, 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.
The Leeds City Region covers Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Craven, Harrogate, Kirklees, Leeds, Selby, Wakefield and York.
