Birmingham leader John Clancy is lining up Chinese investors to build houses and create jobs during a week long visit to the Far East.

The Labour council leader will meet executives from several Chinese companies during a tour of Guangdong province and Hong Kong offering the message that Birmingham is open for business.

While the city has a strong tradition of attracting foreign investment in industry and business and more recently football, Coun Clancy is looking to promote several major housing schemes, including the 1,000-home Icknield Port Loop development and potential city centre residential projects at Smithfield and Curzon Street, to investors.

He has already lined up talks with executives from Guangdong-based property developer Country Garden.

The company recently visited Birmingham and is looking to fund house building.

Also on his agenda are meetings with high-speed rail developers as well as joining forces with the Department for International Trade on a series of UK promotional events in Hong Kong.

The visit also coincides with Prime Minister Theresa May’s attendance at the G20 summit in Beijing.

His other role, as West Midlands cabinet member for economic growth, will also see him highlight potential investment in the UK Central site next to Birmingham Airport.

Watch Below: Council leader John Clancy talks about Smithfield development

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Coun Clancy said: “Post Brexit, the message we want to send is that Birmingham is open for business.

“Here, we have an opportunity to make sure that people know Birmingham is still the place to bring capital to invest and get a greater return, while benefiting Brummies.

“This is about good jobs for Brummies and quality homes in Birmingham.”

The city council currently builds more homes than anyone else in the city , but needs to increase construction to meet demand.

He said the Chinese were increasingly interested in international property development and saw an opportunity for them to help Birmingham achieve its target of building 80,000 new homes by 2030.

The aim, he explained, is to position Birmingham’s economy so that, when Britain eventually leaves the EU in the next two or three years, the city will be able to withstand the worst affects of the economic shock.

He added: “There may be a downturn next year, or the year after, there might even be a recession and I want to ensure, like London did last time, that we come out of the recession ahead of the rest.

“For that, we need to have the capital ready to come in and projects ready to go.”

He added that foreign investors were impressed by Birmingham’s competitive advantages over other cities.

These include its age profile as the youngest city in Europe - with 50 per cent of the population aged under 30 - as well as its strengths in advanced manufacturing, including for the motor industry, creative industry and life sciences.