The British Chamber of Commerce in China is pleased to invite you to attend a 
Cocktail Reception on September 20th, 6.30pm, at The Kerry Centre Hotel for the 
Launch of its new Convergent Media Forum by Rt Hon Margaret Hodge MBE, MP, Minister 
for Trade and Industry.

Venue: Ball Room, 2nd Floor, Kerry Centre Hotel, 1 Guanghua Lu, Beijing
Date: Wednesday September 20th 2006 
Time: 6.30pm - 8.00pm
Cost: FREE OF CHARGE
Register at: communications@pek.britcham.org
Organised by: BCCC
Sponsored by: UK Trade & Investment

The Convergent Media Forum is being launched by BCCC to facilitate trade, 
investment and the exchange of information between participants and investors in 
the telecommunications, media and technology (TMT) sectors in China and the UK.  
The BCCC Member Forum, chaired by Duncan Clark of BDA China, aims to host a number 
of events in the future to address the opportunities presented by the convergence 
of TMT sectors.  

Mrs Hodge will launch the Forum as part of a visit to Beijing from 19-22nd 
September. Her visit will focus on a number of issues including Information 
Communications Technology, publishing and aviation, and she will meet with a range 
of Chinese government departments during her time here. Mrs Hodge hopes to share 
information and know-how on regulation of the telecommunications industry, 3G, 
Digital TV and Radio. These are areas in which both UK and China have a strong 
interest.   The UK's experience in regulatory innovation, merging its telecoms and 
media regulators into one entity (Ofcom), is also of potential value to China.

This event, which has been generously sponsored by UK Trade and Investment and 
organised by BCCC, is free of charge to Members and Non-Members. Future Convergent 
Media Forum meetings will only be open to Members of BCCC.

We very much hope that you will be able to attend this Cocktail Reception which is 
an exclusive event with a UK Minister and a valuable networking opportunity for 
those in the TMT sector.

KEY FACT

Convergence is transforming the way people communicate and revolutionising the 
media industry. Traditional business models of voice-based telecommunications and 
media distribution such as recorded audio and visual content are being swept away 
by the proliferation of broadband and mobile communications. Innovative 
technologies and business models continue to emerge.

China has already successfully grown its communications sector into one of the 
world's largest, with over 420 million mobile subscriptions and 110 million 
broadband users. The sector generates RMB 580 billion (?9 billion) in annual 
telecoms revenues.  China has a vibrant media sector including over 330 million TV 
households and more than 128 million cable TV households.  Today China faces a 
breadth of opportunities and challenges presented by convergence.

The UK has a rich experience of innovation in communications to share with China. 
Britain's television revenues alone exceed ?0.5bn (RMB 158 billion, greater than 
China's RMB 93 billion for television and radio sector), driven by subscription 
revenues made possible by the adoption of digital television (73% of homes). 
Digital radio is already used by over 11% of homes, and high definition television 
(HDTV) has already been launched. Britain has over 5 million 3G subscribers and a 
vibrant culture of creative industries including one of the world’s leading 
markets for computer, video and mobile games.

We look forward to seeing you there!