by Website Editor, 3 November 2013 (updated 2 December 2013)

Scottish Government First Minister Alex Salmond has now concluded his fourth official visit to China, leading a trade delegation focused on the oil & gas and construction sectors. He has visited Beijing and Hong Kong. There was also a separate Scottish industry presence at the China Fisheries & Seafood Expo in Dalian.

An extensive series of announcements were made during the visit - links to these, and associated media coverage, are given below :

• for the initial announcement of the visits, and general comment, see this Scottish Government news release ; this BBC report ; this Scotland on Sunday article ; this Scotsman article ; this STV report ; this Wall Street Journal article ; and this South China Morning Post article
• for TV interviews by Mr Salmond - see this one with CCTV and this one with CNBC
• on meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Yechi - see Scottish Government news release and this brief Chinese Foreign Ministry story
• on oil & gas talks, and contracts for Scottish firms - see Scottish Government news release ; this China Daily story ; and this BBC story
• on a variety of commercial deals announced at a Scottish innovation showcase in Beijing, said to be worth £40m over ten years - Scottish Government news release and this story
• on a ten year deal to broadcast Scottish football in China - see Scottish Government news release and this Daily Express story
• on the establishment of a Confucius Institute at Heriot-Watt University, the fifth in Scotland - it will aim to help Scottish companies to engage with China and increase the provision of Chinese language learning for business purposes - see this Scottish Government news release
• on the First Minister's speech at Tsinghua University, Beijing, in which he used the twin examples of Smith’s The Wealth of Nations and The Theory of Moral Sentiments to argue that sustainable economic progress must be linked to social progress - see this Scottish Government news release and the full text here
• on the digital mapping of the Eastern Qing Tombs - see this Scottish Government news release - this also mentions a new project linking RCAHMS and Nanjing Museum
• on a new agreement between university researchers in Hong Kong and Scotland - see this Scottish Government news release
• on Mr Samond's speech to a financial services forum in Hong Kong - Scottish Government news release and the full text here
• on Mr Salmond's reflections at the end of the visit - Scottish Government news release - this also mentions that the National Museums of Scotland will host a major exhibition on the Ming Dynasty in June-October 2014 and mentions Scottish Government support for a school in Hong Kong

There is also a report on the visit in Voice of Friendship, the magazine of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, here.

This visit follows that by External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf between 23 and 27 June, see bottom half of this page for details.

Mr Salmond has been to China on three previous occasions, in April 2009 (see this news release and later ones that week) ; July 2010 (see this news release and later ones that week) ; and December 2011 (see this news release and later ones that week).

For various announcements made during the Prime Minister's later visit to China in the week commencing 2 December, see this UK Government page. One announcement on new cultural links mentions that the National Theatre of Scotland is expected to tour China in 2014/15.

For details of the July 2015 visit to China by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, see this page on our site.