My apologies for the delay in responding to your letter to Richard Everitt of 21 September. As my colleague explained yesterday, Richard has now been posted to Shanghai and we were unware this was outstanding. I regret that we are not able to submit a supplementary memorandum at this stage, as we have still to agree the details of the spending review with the FCO. I trust the note below gives you an indicaton of our thinking.

  The British Council will be strengthening its operations in China in line with the recommendations in the White Paper. It has recently opened an office in Chongqing and plans to expand its education promotion services, in line with the PM's initiative, and programmes in reform. China will also be piloting the first of the Council's Centres for English Language Learning Support in collaboration with a Chinese partner organisation. The centre will develop appropriate multi-media teaching packages for dissemination through local and regional networks for ELT professionals. We are still discussing plans for the spending review settlement with the FCO, and will be happy to provide more detailed information in the new year if you wish.