David Bailey, a professor of international business strategy and economics at Coventry University Business School, said Geely "is a big player" that is "growing quickly" and that there is a chance there for them to put resources into developing new models.

BBC: England

David Bailey, Professor of International Business Strategy and Economics at Coventry University, believes Westminster should be supporting the manufacturing industry.

BBC: Location seals factories' fates

The programme aims to send 200 students a year to take a year-long master's degree at Tsinghua - in subjects including public policy, international relations, economics and business, and engineering - from 2016.

BBC: Stephen Schwarzman unveils $300m China scholarship fund

Xu Xiaonian, an economics professor at the China-Europe International Business School, was even more strident in his remarks, saying China's state-capitalist model was in fact pioneered by Otto Von Bismarck, the 19th-century statesman credited with uniting Germany.

WSJ: Geithner: China's System 'Damaging' to Trade Partners