The city of Liverpool has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Chinese city of Guiyang, a community that has been labeled the “Capital of Crowdfunding.” Guiyang is the capital of Guizhou Province in Southwest China. The agreement follows a visit to Liverpool by a senior delegation from Guiyang this past April that was organized by Invest Liverpool. The initiative is designed to encourage trade, investment and other forms of cooperation. The agreement was signed by Zhijun Li, President of ZY Crowdfunding Industrial Park, Guiyang, and Liverpool Assistant Mayor Gary Millar.
The MOU is described as seeing the two cities build on existing ties to work together to create a positive, mutually beneficial relationship that draws on synergies resulting from Guiyang’s strengths in financial services expertise coupled with Liverpool’s start-up community. The MOU will also enable the creation of a ‘cross-border fund’ that will be invested in by both parties to support the growth of innovative enterprises in Liverpool and Guiyang.
Ellen Cutler, the head of Invest Liverpool, said the two cities were very complementary;
“Our incredibly vibrant small start-up economy is unmatched in the UK, so it makes sense to bring Guiyang’s expertise and experience in developing and exploring innovative financial funding models alongside Liverpool’s thriving start-up economy.”
Cutler said the relationship between the two cities was important to deepening their relationship with global cities that complement existing regional characteristics. Cutler stated, “we look forward to seeing tangible benefits come from this.”
Both cities are expected to actively promote cooperation and leverage their resources and expertise in equity-based crowdfunding, capital market financing, wealth management and asset architecture to create an innovative financial service system that will benefit the economies of both cities.