The UK construction supply chain could be set to benefit from £200m through the adoption in China of British green construction standards, Business Secretary Vince Cable has said.

UK construction firm Building Research Establishment (BRE) has signed an agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to set up a training and R&D centre in China's fastest growing city.

BRE China aims to certify over 1,000 buildings across China to its standards, generating £10m in income and potentially creating up to £200m of work for UK supply chain companies, UK Trade & Investment said.

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The Chinese Government has established a goal of having green buildings account for 30% of new construction projects by 2020.

Around 10% of people in the UK work in construction-related jobs and the sector accounts for 6.7% of the UK economy.

Vince Cable said: "The UK has a strong competitive edge in building modern and environmentally friendly cities, through our world-class expertise in architecture, consultancy, design, IT and engineering.

"The green construction market offers a wealth of opportunities for ambitious British firms and the companies in their supply chains wishing to export. I am in China to open doors for those companies and help to lay the groundwork for deals to be signed."

Director of BRE China Jaya Skandamoorthy, said: "We are excited by the collaboration with the Shenzhen Government and supporting them to achieve their goal to be the greenest city in China.

"We hope our international standards, research and training programme will provide a platform for leading companies, British and Chinese, to collaborate on green products, technologies and buildings."

(IT/JP)