\n<\/p>\n
Starmer \u2014 who is expected to meet Xi on a high-stakes trip to Beijing this week \u2014 set out to revive an economic relationship that had hit the rocks. The extent of the reset undertaken by the PM\u2019s cabinet is revealed in the series of speeches by ministers instrumental to his China policy over the past year, including Chancellor Rachel Reeves, then-Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, and former Indo-Pacific, investment, city and trade ministers.<\/p>\n
Months before security officials completed an audit of Britain\u2019s exposure to Chinese interference last June, ministers were pushing for closer collaboration between the two nations on energy and financial systems, and the eight sectors of Labour\u2019s industrial strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix of those eight sectors have national security implications,\u201d said a senior industry representative, granted anonymity to speak freely about their interactions with government. \u201cWhen you speak to [the trade department] they frame China as an opportunity. When you speak to the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, it\u2019s a national security risk.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
While Starmer\u2019s reset with China isn\u2019t misguided, \u201cI think we’ve got to be much more hard headed about where we permit Chinese investment into the economy in the future,\u201d said Labour MP Liam Byrne, chair of the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers on his committee are \u201cjust not convinced that the investment strategy that is unfolding between the U.K. and China is strong enough for the future and increased coercion risks,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
As Trump\u2019s tariffs bite, Beijing\u2019s trade surplus is booming and \u201cwe’ve got to be realistic that China is likely to double down on its Made in China approach and target its export surplus at the U.K.,\u201d Byrne said. China is the U.K.’s fifth-large<\/span>st trade partner, and data to\u00a0June of last year show U.K. exports to China dropping 10.4 percent<\/a>\u00a0year-on-year while imports rose 4.3 percent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n