Gerard Lyons, chief economist of the British Standard Chartered Bank, expressed confidence Tuesday in Taiwan's economic prospects and suggested that Taiwanese companies seize the business opportunities in China. 'The Chinese economy will lead Asia out of this recession. It will lead Asia out of this recession both directly through increased demands and indirectly through increased confidence, ' Lyons said at the 11th Joint Meeting of the Taiwan British Business Council (TBBC) in Taipei. Taiwan, like the U.K., is an industrial country but it should transform to a more service-driven economy by investing in R&D and knowledge-based capabilities, he suggested. With regard to the global economy, the turning point is near, Lyons said. 'The positive factor is that the economy is likely to hit bottom this autumn and recovery will become evident next year, ' the economist forecast. However, Standard Chartered Bank thinks that the recovery in the West will be a difficult one, he added. He predicted that Asia would come out of the recession sooner than the West, but the region would not return to the levels of the boom years, as it would need a strong America, Britain and Germany for that to happen. 'You will see growth and exports return to the levels of 2002-2004, not to the levels of 2004-2007, ' Lyons said. 'A very important message is that rebalance in this region will need to see Asia spending more and saving less.' David Campbell, director of the Taipei-based British Trade and Cultural Office, also expressed similar confidence in Taiwan's economic prospects. He said at the meeting that the improved cross-Taiwan Strait relations between Taiwan and China over the past year have greatly benefited both Taiwanese and British companies in the region and that many British companies have expressed interest in development in Taiwan. 'This is a very good time for us to be raising the awareness in the U.K. of the changes and the new opportunities in Taiwan, ' Campbell said. The TBBC was established in 1999 with the aim of promoting bilateral trade and investment ties between the U.K. and Taiwan by encouraging closer links between the two markets, by disseminating relevant market information and by cooperation to remove impediments to market access. The council, which is supervised by the U.K. Trade and Investment Bureau and Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade, meets once a year alternatively in the U.K. and Taiwan and brings together business representatives from both sides. 