Chinese delegation visits TPO on fact-finding mission

A party of 20 officials from the Chinese Government has called on Property Ombudsman Christopher Hamer as part of a fact-finding tour of the UK.

The visit, by senior staff from the Department of Letters and Calls, was organised by the Chinese foreign affairs department and formed part of a programme to review complaints handling and dispute resolution procedures within the UK.

After a presentation and question and answer session, the delegates toured the TPO head office in Salisbury before an exchange of gifts took place.

Hamer said: “As China moves towards a more consumer-focused society, so the government there wants to find more informed ways of dealing with consumer disputes.

“The delegates were very interested in the approach we take as an alternative to the formal court process.”

At the start of December, a film crew making a television series about ‘Britishness’ for a German TV network visited TPO head office as part of the programme on home ownership in the UK.

Hamer said: “Communicating with the British crew making the film for German TV was easier than discussing matters through an interpreter with the Chinese delegation, but it was interesting to see so much international focus on how we do things.”

Christopher Hamer presents Ma Ji, Deputy Secretary-General, Government of Qinghai Province, with a picture of Salisbury Cathedral