While attending the recent G20 Trade Ministers Meeting in Shanghai, Trade and Investment Minister Lord Price set out the UK’s continued “open and outward-looking approach” to increasing trade with Hong Kong and China.
Ahead of the G20 meeting, he met with nearly 100 Chinese investors. The minister reported positive outcomes of his discussions, including a deal with Fosun, China’s largest conglomerate, which intends to increase its investments in UK infrastructure and energy, and one with Huawei, a global communications provider, which confirmed that it is to go ahead with its planned £1.3 billion UK investment.
In addition, the China National Nuclear Corporation said that it remains fully committed to its investment in UK programmes, while the Bank of China expressed its enthusiasm about “maintaining current UK investment and securing new sources”.
Meanwhile, the then-Business Secretary Sajid Javid had preliminary trade talks with India earlier this month, when he met the Finance and Commerce Ministers during a series of discussions in Delhi. He used the meetings to outline his vision for what a future trade relationship between the UK and India might look like outside the EU.