[ad_1]
Boris Johnson is pushing to forge closer UK economic ties with China by reviving a bilateral forum focused on trade and investment, in a move that has angered some Conservative MPs.
British officials said the prime minister has authorized a restart of the annual UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee, which has not met for four years amid increasing tensions between the two sides. The news was first reported by Politico.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak has meanwhile given the go-ahead to a resumption of the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, an annual summit also focused on trade and investment, which has not taken place since 2019.
China is the UK’s third-biggest trading partner. The value of bilateral trade between the two countries was £ 94.5bn in the year to September 2021.
Former prime minister David Cameron sought a “golden era” between the UK and China focused on enhanced economic ties, but relations cooled under his successor Theresa May.
Johnson angered Beijing by deciding in 2020 to exclude Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei from supplying kit for the UK’s 5G mobile phone network, and criticizing China’s security crackdown in Hong Kong.
But one UK official said the government was now keen to further develop trade with China, where it supported British businesses and jobs. “We want a positive and constructive relationship with China but we will not sacrifice our values in doing so,” added the official.
A former Downing Street official said: “When I was in Number 10 the attitude of Boris was always to want better UK-Sino relations – he only banned Huawei under pressure from the US. ”
Sunak attracted attention last summer when he used the annual Mansion House speech to the City of London to encourage UK financial services companies to do business in China.
The Treasury said the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue was an “important mechanism” for progressing Britain’s economic, financial and trade relationship with China.
The UK Department for International Trade said the government was not pursuing a free trade agreement with China.
David Henig, a trade expert at the European Center for International Political Economy, said the revival of the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee was more about “signalling that trade is important” than actual action.
“If you believe that the UK should be in any way trading with China, then we should carry on with the machinery of meetings to try to resolve issues,” he added.
Sam Lowe, director of trade policy at Flint Global, a consultancy, played down the economic significance of the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee. “But from a political perspective it is interesting, it looks like the UK is trying to build some bridges,” he added.
Johnson’s effort to restart the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Committee prompted an angry response by some Tory MPs who have criticized Beijing’s human rights record.
Iain Duncan Smith, a former Conservative leader and leading critic of China, said: “If this government decides that they are going to kowtow to China by going over there and begging them to trade – I have to tell you that they can think again. ”
Bob Seely, a Tory MP and member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said he did not understand why the government was trying to get closer to China when it was “dismantling” Hong Kong’s democratic government.
[ad_2]
Source link
