London's lord mayor makes China his biggest mission

London's new lord mayor, David Brewer, kicked off his one-year term in office on November 12 with a customary annual parade that is one of the world's longest-running traditions. For the first time in the event's nearly 800-year history, Hong Kong took part, with a float near the front of the procession in the shape of a Star Ferry.

A long-time British insurance executive with extensive experience working on the mainland, Mr Brewer invited the Hong Kong government to take part as a sign of where he would focus his efforts during his year-long tenure. The lord mayor's job is to promote London's financial services industry and related businesses to other countries, and Mr Brewer said he would concentrate on China. 'China is obviously an immensely important place for financial services and indeed manufacturing,' said Mr Brewer in an interview with the South China Morning Post. 'It's becoming a must-see for every lord mayor and they will go to China each year in the future.' But Mr Brewer, 65, also said he felt 'very strongly' about non-business issues such as human rights and the rule of law.

Mr Brewer is London's 678th lord mayor and the most China-friendly. He plans to make an unprecedented two visits to the mainland to promote London as both a business partner and an investment destination.

As lord mayor, Mr Brewer is the symbolic head of the City of London, a tiny square mile in the heart of the capital that's the traditional home of Britain's financial services industry.

The City, the oldest part of London, contributes more than GBP30 billion ($400 billion) annually to the British economy, or 3 per cent, through services such as banking, insurance, the stock market, and currency and commodities trading.

Mr Brewer will make his first trip to China as lord mayor in February and March, travelling with a small business delegation to Mongolia first, before heading to Hong Kong, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Chengdu and Chongqing. Then in September, in a first for a lord mayor, he'll visit China a second time, travelling to Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin, Dalian and Shenyang .