Famous football clubs Manchester United and Manchester City had scheduled to play their annual match on foreign soil for the first time.
The game was supposed to kick off on July 25th in Beijing. However the much-anticipated clash was cancelled at the last minute due to weather concerns.
What wasn't cancelled however was a business event which saw a delegation of businessmen, officials and academics from Manchester travel to Beijing to try to attract Chinese investment in the city.
The city of Manchester was supposed to be in the spotlight in Beijing on Monday.
Executives of both football clubs flew to Beijing from Manchester with more than just football on their minds. They are trying to appeal to investors from the world's second largest economy.
Manchester City football club had just received around US$400 million worth of investment from two Chinese companies. The Man City group now has a Chinese board member, which according to officials, is helping the club make inroads into China.
"Particularly since the investment from China Media Capital, and Citic Capital, they've really helped us to make this rapid progress," said Tom Glick, COO, Manchester City Group.
"We have marketing partnerships with companies like Soccer World, and Weili TV, partnerships with Tenent, with Didi, and a whole bunch of others that are very close."
It's just one example of UK businesses working closely with Chinese investors. Manchester's officials want to make sure Chinese investors see more areas of potential in the city, as investor confidence is especially important after Brexit.
"Brexit is not something that the people of Manchester or the leadership of Manchester had wanted. But it's happened," said Sir, Howard Bernstein, chief executive of Manchester City Council.
"What we've got to do is ensure that there is a real drive within the city to create major investment opportunities. Football is obviously one opportunity but there's science, there's innovation, there's residential and commercial properties."
Property is an especial concern. Real estate experts at the event said Chinese interest in homes in Manchester has already made housing in the city a rival to pricier London. Even as Brexit shakes confidence, average house prices are set to increase 5 point 5 percent in 2016.
Experts say even if prices are not falling, now might still be a good time to buy.
"I think the opportunities we've seen for international investors is the currency," said Darren Xia, head, Int'l Capital Group for China, Jones Lang Lasalle.
"Especially for Chinese investors in the past one or two months, is that there's an 11 percent difference in currency, and therefore, if we are looking at the same asset, it'd be 11 percent cheaper to buy today as compared to pre-brexit."
Manchester is the UK's second-largest and fastest-growing economy after London. The city's GDP has nearly doubled in the last 20 years. This economic potential has persuaded real estate investors around the world, and from China, to bet on the future of the city.
