Rich natural resources, experienced energy sectors, and supportive business environment have made the UK a global center of renewable energy. There are about 1,000 innovative companies in the UK about renewable energy, and the number is growing every year. Most of the new renewable energy companies are wind energy and bio-energy. The UK is a world leader in ocean wave energy and tidal energy. In the past 10 years, the UK’s renewable energy projects and corporate investment and financing is more than 15 billion pounds. The UK is the first country in the world to carry out market-oriented reforms in the energy sector and has provided reform templates and market mechanisms for many countries. Privatization and marketization have injected new vitality into the UK energy sector and the entire social and economic development.

British companies have their own advantages in areas such as low carbon, energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies, including automatic monitoring and positioning, energy efficient building and building materials, energy auditing and co-generation. The Energy Systemas Institute in Edinburgh and the New Energy and Renewable Energy Center (NaREC) in Northumberland are the leading research institutes in the renewable energy sector. Voller Energy is one of the first companies in the world to produce portable hydrogen fuel cells.

The area in the environmental industry that UK shows strengths mainly include: clean technologies in the automotive and transportation sectors, air and water pollution treatment, low carbon and renewable energy, and thermal energy storage technologies. Transport Design International, the world’s leading transportation and engineering consultancy, has developed a zero-emission electric rail urban transport system. Leicester is the world’s leading research center in ionic liquid plating. The UK’s technologies and products in air pollution control mainly include gas scrubbers, dust collectors, incinerators and complete air pollution control equipment. In the environmental protection field of petroleum and marine industry, Briggs can provide offshore facility management for oil and gas projects and Emergency treatment service for environmental accidents. The UK’s environmental monitoring technology is advanced. The monitoring technology developed by the University of Birmingham and STS Ltd. can greatly reduce the time to discover and deal with water pollution. Severn Trent Laboratory (STL) has world leading technology in environmental monitoring.

Due to its long and famous cultural and educational characteristics, the UK attracts a large number of international educational institutions every year to learn about British educational models through various cooperation. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Education, the UK currently has more than 600,000 international students each year. The UK has many of the world’s top universities and excellent teaching teams. Higher education institutions in England predict that income from non-EU international students will increase from £3.6 billion in the 2014-2015 school year to £4.8 billion in the 2018-2019 school year. The UK continues to attract Chinese schools and educational institutions with international educational cooperation intentions, as well as developers and partners interested in investing in international education.

The UK is the world’s sixth largest chemical producer. There are more than 4,000 companies and more than 400,000 employees in British chemical industry. In 2012, the total annual output of British chemical industry reached 44.1 billion pounds, accounting for more than 3% of the UK’s economy. The world’s major multinational chemical companies operate and produce chemical products in the UK, and many chemical companies in the UK have reached the top levels in the world.

In recent years, the UK chemical industry has made strategic adjustments. First, development is made towards specialization. The chemical industry has shifted from diversified development to specialized development, narrowing the scope of business, abandoning weaknesses, strengthening core industries, further strengthening its monopoly position in certain field, and gradually withdrawing from the traditional chemical fields with low added value and serious pollution. The second is to develop new technologies and high value-added industries. More investment is made in research and development. With technological innovation as the primary means of development, the renewal speed of UK chemical technology has been further accelerated. In order to meet the needs of the market and pursue profit, some chemical companies in the UK shift their core industries to fine chemicals and high-tech materials. Thirdly, the UK’s primary chemical products, bulk petrochemicals and traditional chemical products are shifting to developing countries and regions with broad markets, abundant raw materials and cheap labor. Fourthly, the UK pays great attention to the energy-saving, environmental protection and safety technologies in the chemical industry, trying to transforms into a sustainable industry.

The UK is Europe’s most diverse and productive vehicle production and assembly center. Many automotive companies around the world are attracted by British machinery technology, excellent labor supply and a good business environment. The UK is a world leader in automotive R&D. Seven of the world’s  largest car manufacturers, eight sports car manufacturers, eight commercial vehicle manufacturers and 10 bus manufacturers all invest in the UK. In addition, there are 2,350 auto parts suppliers including 17 world-class companies. Wales is the most advanced regions in the UK’s automotive production industry and the it is also the largest supplier of spare parts. Almost all of the world’s leading auto companies have branches in the UK. At present, more than 40 well-known auto companies such as Ford, BMW, Toyota, Nissan and Honda have companies in the UK. The automotive industry chain in the UK mainly includes overall design, engine design and manufacturing, and key components production. In 2013, the UK produced 1.51 million vehicles, ranking fourth in Europe; producing 2.64 million engines, of which 77% of the vehicles and 57% of the engines were exported abroad. In the same year, the income of the British auto industry reached 5.9 billion pounds, accounting for about 3% of GDP, with more than 731,000 employee.

UK is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical industry centres, accounting for about one-sixth of the world market. UK, the United States and Japan are the world’s three major pharmaceutical industry R & D centers. The UK is also the world’s second largest pharmaceutical exporter. In 2009, R&D investment in the pharmaceutical sector reached 4.4 billion pounds, accounting for 28% of the total commercial research and development investment in the UK. In 2012, the UK pharmaceutical industry generated an output of 15.4 billion pounds, contributed a trade surplus of 5 billion pounds, had 68,000 direct employees, and created 250,000 jobs. Glaxo Smith Kline and Astra Zeneca are the fifth and sixth largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. In addition, foreign companies such as Pfizer and Roche have also set up companies in the UK. In March 2003, the British government passed a law on the legalization of cloning and stem cell, paving the way for the study of regenerative drugs, making regenerative drugs widely used in various fields. The UK government has established a bioscience innovation and research center to maintain its competitiveness in the biotechnology field. The UK encourages biotechnology research with preferential business tax rates and funding schemes, as well as preferential policies for small companies, ensuring that the UK maintains a leading position in biotechnology sector in the world.

The UK is the largest information and communication industry center in the EU with more than 8,000 companies and more than 1 million employees. In 2012, the UK’s computer and electronics manufacturing industry achieved an output value of 20.5 billion pounds, accounting for about 1.5% of GDP. The telecommunications, computer and information services industries achieved an output value of 140.7 billion pounds, accounting for about 10% of GDP. The UK is also an innovation centers of information and communication industry in the world. There are currently 20 universities in the UK engaged in advanced research in telecommunications technology and 70 universities in semiconductor research. The UK telecommunications industry can be mainly divided into five parts: fixed and private lines, mobile voice and data, Internet and broadband, enterprise data services, and the retail of mobile phones and their accessories.

• Electronic products. The UK is an innovative center for electrical engineering, semiconductor design and optoelectronics. There is a good business environment and infrastructure for the development of electronic products. Companies such as Sony, Hitachi, Philips, and Motorola have established R&D centers in the UK. The UK was the first country to adopt a wireless LAN, and its Internet and e-commerce is also in the international leading position. 

• Software and IT services. The UK is one of the most attractive countries to software companies, with more than 1 million people employed in computer-related industries, more than half of which are in the software and related services industries. The software developed in the UK is more than any countries in the European.

(3) Telecommunications industry. The UK is the first country in EU to start the telecommunications market and privatize the telecommunications industry. The UK telecommunications industry is famous for its high level of development, openness and access to new technologies. The capital value of the telecommunications companies reached 117 billion pounds. In 2012, the telecommunications service industry produced about 64.1 billion pounds. The UK is the first country to offer digital TV services via satellite, cable and terrestrial broadcasting, with more than 200 space and satellite companies and the world’s largest mobile phone operator. The UK is the world’s leading network gateway, with 36% of the world’s international network lines passing through UK servers.

From the Scottish Lowlands to Kirkwall in the Orkney Islands, the Scotch Whisky Distillery is everywhere. The Scotch whisky industry directly provides 10,900 jobs, which does not include the jobs it brings to the relevant industries. It contributes over £5 billion to the UK economy. Scotch Whisky has become Scotland’s third largest industry. The value of the Scotch whisky industry is three times that of the digital industry or life sciences industry. The export of Scotch whisky reached a new highest point in 2017 with sales value of 4.37 billion pounds and 1.23 billion bottles of whisky were exported to all over the world.