British pub in Chinese hands

Chinese company SinoFortone Investment bought "The Plough at Cadsden," - a pub in the heart of the English countryside where in October of last year Chinese President Xi Jinping and then British Prime Minister David Cameron enjoyed a beer and fish and chips.

Commercial property agent Christie & Co said in a statement Tuesday the pub went to the Chinese for an undisclosed sum, but "The Times" daily reported the investor shelled out 2 million pounds (2.38 million euros, $2.55 million) for the watering hole.

The acquisition of "The Plough" will go down as one of the more unusual UK buys for Chinese investors, who have snapped up everything from luxury London apartments and skyscrapers to the maker of the iconic black taxi cabs.

Lucrative concept

"Asian investors are becoming more interested in UK markets, particularly hotels, and we're seeing more and more Chinese investors," said Neil Morgan, managing director of pubs and restaurants for Christie & Co.

British brewer Greene King said exports to China of its India pale ale (IPA) - the beer that Xi and Cameron were drinking - had increased 16-fold after the visit last year.

"If the British prime minister chooses to drink IPA that's normal, but if the president of China chooses to drink a British beer, it attracts lots of interest," Greene King CEO Rooney Anand said.

"We're so excited about this … new adventure," said SinoFortone Investment Managing Director Peter Zhang. "The English pub concept is growing very fast in China," he added.

hg/jd (Reuters, AFP)