Sheffield to get £1bn Sichuan Guodong Construction Group investment

The Sichuan Guodong Construction Group is to invest £220m over the next three years

More than £1bn is to be invested in Sheffield by a Chinese manufacturing firm over the next 60 years, the council has announced.

The Sichuan Guodong Construction Group is to initially invest £220m over the next three years.

The money is for the city centre, although individual projects have not yet been announced.

Councillor Julie Dore said: "It's a massive vote of confidence in Sheffield."

She added: "It is the first deal of its kind to be made by a UK city."

Ms Dore said work could start as early as next year

Ms Dore said the first projects could see work as early as next year and may involve work to get more visitors into the city centre, with more hotels, leisure and residential properties built.

"We have the skills and the connections to drive economic growth in our city," she said.

The money, announced after council leaders visited Chengdu, is the biggest Chinese investment deal outside London, she added.

The projects to be funded by it are to be chosen by the city council and the firm.

The announcement follows a visit to Chengdu

Councillor Leigh Bramall, deputy leader, said the money would create "hundreds, if not thousands, of additional jobs" in Sheffield.

The deal has been more than 18 months in the making, the authority confirmed.

How well do you know Chengdu?

• The city, with a population of 16 million, is nicknamed the Hibiscus City and is on the western edge of the Sichuan Basin, a lowland region in south-western China

• It has a Giant Panda breeding and research centre

• Chengdu was sacked by the Mongol empire in 1279

• Sichuan cuisine is famous for its spicy taste and the flavour of Sichuan pepper

• An earthquake of magnitude 7.9 hit the area in 2008.

Mr Wang, Sichuan Guodong's chairman, has visited Sheffield a number of times and previously said it had "real growth potential".

Chengdu is the fifth largest city in China and the largest in Sichuan Province, the council said.

Sheffield has also signed co-operation trade agreements with other Chinese cities, Daqing and Nanchang.