A BOLTON firm is celebrating an agreement which should lead to orders worth £10 million from China by the end of the decade.

Representatives from Vernacare secured the deal after travelling to the People's Republic with Chancellor George Osborne as part of a drive to promote the Northern Powerhouse initiative.

The firm, based in Folds Road, creates disposable single-use cardboard bedpans, urinals and bowls, which are a familiar sight in NHS hospitals but virtually unknown in China.

A memorandum of understanding signed with Sinophi Healthcare will see Vernacare's products used in the Chinese company's hospitals — potentially not only improving hygiene but also saving lives.

Emma Sheldon, the firm's marketing director, said: "They had been using plastic bedpans and washing and reusing them, and then they end up in landfill.

"It increases the risk of infection which our products are designed to reduce."

A recent study at the Royal Salford Hospital found that use of the single-use products — and the disposal units the company also provides — can cut cases of potentially fatal superbug C. diff by 56 per cent, she said.

High infection rates in Chinese hospitals have led to significant over-prescribing of antibiotics, which risks allowing bugs to develop resistance.

The company, which employs 180 people in Bolton, hopes the agreement will lead to more orders from China.

Ms Sheldon said: "We supply most of the NHS. Sinophi have bought a 1,000-bed hospital which they want to put UK best practice products into. If it goes down well there, how many hospitals are there in China?"

The signing of the memorandum was witnessed in Chengdu by Treasury minister Lord O'Neill, who has accompanied the Chancellor on his Chinese tour.

During the signing ceremony Ms Sheldon said: "Sinophi Healthcare is a shining example of a forward-thinking business that is bringing to life the Chinese Government’s bold vision for a world-class healthcare system.

"The Vernacare system, and the significant benefits it has already achieved in helping to improve infection prevention for hospitals and patients worldwide, is a perfect fit for the vision Sinophi have for improving healthcare in China.

"Our partnership with Sinophi is the highlight of a very special trip to China in the presence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, government ministers and leading British exporters.”

Mr Osborne said: “I want the UK to forge much closer economic links with China and that means being ambitious enough to help to deliver record levels of investment and trade in both directions.

"That is why I travelled to China with a huge ministerial and business delegation, ensuring that the British companies with us had fantastic opportunity to explore new markets and to make vital contacts.

"Our aim is to make China the UK’s second largest trading partner and British firms have a massive opportunity to benefit.”