Reignwood purchased Ten Trinity Square in 2010, an iconic landmark building in London. Provided to China Daily

Chairman, Global Investments and Acquisitions, Reignwood Group, and President, Reignwood Investments UK, Ni Songhua, talked with China Daily reporter Xu Xiao about the group's investment in Britain and shared his perspectives on China-Britain business cooperation. He also gave suggestions to other Chinese investors on the potential of doing business in Britain.

What is the significance of purchasing Ten Trinity Square for Reignwood? In what aspect does historic architecture reflect Reignwood's corporate values and brand concept?

Reignwood has a profound respect for history and a far-reaching vision of the future. The core to our success is a deep interest in East-West trade and cooperation and a belief that a mutual respect for excellence, in all its many forms, unites cultures.

Ten Trinity Square, an iconic landmark building constructed without compromise in 1922 by Sir Edwin Cooper as the headquarters of the Port of London Authority, encapsulates those values.

At the same time, as the British say, "actions speak louder than words", and we believe that the passion and care that we have lavished on the restoration and refurbishment of this key London landmark underlines our respect for British culture and long-term commitment to the UK.

How did Reignwood preserve Ten Trinity Square's historic style while adding modern elements to it? In other words, how are you planning to keep its original features whilst making it a new luxury landmark in London?

Ten Trinity Square is listed by the British Government as being a "particularly important building of more than special interest" and throughout the refurbishment process our architects and team of restoration experts worked closely with the authorities and English Heritage to reinforce this.

When we acquired Ten Trinity Square we were presented with a building that, while retaining a vast array of original features, had also been the subject of substantial bomb damage during World War II.

Rather than creating reproduction interiors, we chose to restore and preserve the vast array of original features that had survived, while working within the original architectural conception to reinstate the features that had been lost with clearly contemporary elements.

So, for example, our team of stone restoration experts spent literally years restoring the exterior stonework and carvings to reveal the beauty of the exterior facades, while specialist restorers brought back to life thousands of square meters of original plasterwork, wood carving, marble floors, etc.

However, rather than reproducing the original glazed rotunda at the heart of the building, which was lost as a result of bomb damage in World War II, we are reinstating an elegant contemporary glass structure true to the original notion by utilizing cutting- edge techniques.

In this way the restored features of the building have been clearly delineated from the contemporary elements that we have introduced. Our objective is to respect the heritage of the building while at the same time creating dramatic and comfortable spaces that function in the 21st Century.

What are the major opportunities and challenges of investing in Britain, from your perspective?

London is a global financial center and a truly cosmopolitan city ideally located between America and China.

The city has a long history as a global trading hub and of welcoming investment and talented people from all over the world. Indeed, in 1922 when Ten Trinity Square was built for the Port of London Authority, London was the busiest port in the world.

London thus provides Reignwood with a huge opportunity in terms of its location, history, ethos and talent pool to pursue our vision of fostering East-West relations.

However, in order to take advantage of this opportunity we had to be prepared to invest time and money to understand a very different business culture and regulatory environment, before assembling and then learning how to motivate a diverse and talented international team.

The easy option would have been to bring in a team from Beijing, rather than work hard every day to weld together a team of more than 1,000 people from more than 15 countries and then ensure that each member understands and shares our common corporate goal and philosophy.

However, we believe that we would neither have been able to create the same product, nor earn the respect of the city had we not worked so hard to understand and become a part of London.

In London there is some justification for the prevalent local stereotype of a short term, get-rich-quick foreign developer and we are determined to lead by example and be seen for what we are a long-term investor, with immense respect for British culture and history, who is looking to enhance the city, add value and create jobs.

In this context, we were pleased when the charismatic Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, recently cited Reignwood as an example of "responsible capitalism".

London is a center of excellence with an incredible international community and outlook - we believe that we can learn from and become an integral part of the city's future.

What do you think of the current cooperation between Britain and China? What do you expect for future cooperation between the two countries?

I am not a politician, but we believe that firm foundations have been laid for a strong and lasting bilateral relationship between China and Britain that will continue to grow to the mutual benefits of both countries. Both China and Britain are countries with long histories and deep intellectual resources whose relationship, we believe, is an important part of the ongoing process of further understanding and cooperation between the East and the West.

Developing this mutual respect, trust and confidence is key to the success of Chinese-UK relations.

What do you think are the major reasons for the success of Reignwood in investing in Britain?

Reciprocity has been key to our success in Britain. In the same way that we have striven to become a part of London and its business culture, so have we received invaluable advice from key figures in London as well as from the Chinese community here, ranging from Boris Johnson, The City of London and London & Partners to the Chinese Embassy and the Bank of China.

Sir Edward Lister, chief of staff and deputy mayor for Policy and Planning, personally came to visit Ten Trinity Square and John Barradell, Town Clerk and CEO of City of London, offered his assistance and advice as did Ron Dennis, chairman of the British East Asia Council and British business ambassador.

Everyone has been very flexible and supportive.

Surrounding ourselves with top tier consultants such as Gardiner & Theobald and other well-established partners is also a key part to our success.

Any suggestions you want to give to Chinese enterprises that want to invest in Britain? Any other topics you want to share with us?

The UK economy has a very good future. It has a good legal system, a fantastic talent pool and great economic prospects. Come to invest in the UK sooner rather than later. Don't miss the boat!