Chinese market worth 50m [pounds sterling] ready to open up to UK indies. (International).

A fact-finding mission by Aim's international committee to Beijing, Shanghai, Hang Kong, Seoul and Tokyo has uncovered a huge potential market for UK independent music and resulted in the first licensing deal struck by a UK indie in China.

A newly-issued executive summary of the association's Aiming East report revealed that the market in China, which has a population topping 1.2bn, was worth about 50m [pounds sterling] in legitimate music sales during 2000 and that more than 200m people there are expected to have broadband internet access by the end of this year. However, it also estimated a 70% piracy rate in China -- the worst in the region -- targeted mainly at high-profile international and local acts.

But China's recently-acquired membership of the WTO, its cultural push ahead of the 2008 Olympics in Beijing and a government crackdown on audio piracy should all further ripen the conditions for the UK's bid to penetrate the local market. Gavin Robertson, managing director of Aim's MusicIndie operation, notes, "The number of people learning English, for instance, in anticipation of the Olympics is absolutely astonishing and the music industry will benefit on the back of that."

Robertson believes UK independents gaining further exposure to the market is the first step to increasing business there. "The only music being bought and sold from UK indies is being brought back by small club DJs and it is all ...