(AFP) – British Treasurer Rachel Reeves said Saturday that London is a “natural home” for Chinese finance during a visit to Beijing in the shadow of turmoil in her home country's bond market.
Reeves, whose official title is Chancellor of the Exchequer, will be the most senior British government official to visit China since then Prime Minister Theresa May met Chinese President Xi Jinping seven years ago.
The visit comes as yields on British government bonds hit a 17-year high this week, further complicating ruling Labor's vigorous efforts to stimulate growth.
This increase will increase the cost of financing current government projects and servicing debt, increasing the risk of having to cut spending or raise taxes.
Speaking on the resumption of long-suspended financial talks between the two countries, Reeves said London is “a natural home for Chinese financial services companies and their clients raising capital, and for Chinese companies looking to establish a global presence.” It is the starting point for
He welcomed the “opportunity to deepen ties” in capital markets, but said the two countries needed to work more closely together on “regulatory cooperation”.
At a subsequent press conference, Reeves said “common ground” had been found in areas including financial services, trade, investment and climate change.
He said the deal would be worth 600 million pounds ($732 million) to the British economy over the next five years, without giving specific details.
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng said experience had shown that “as long as China and the UK respect each other… relations can develop in a healthy way”.
Mr Reeves has been under pressure from opposition parties in parliament to stay home and deal with the financial crisis, but Prime Minister Keir Starmer's spokesman said this week he had no plans to cancel his “long-standing” trip.
Visiting British bicycle maker Brompton's Beijing showroom early on Saturday, Prime Minister Reeves acknowledged “the movements in global financial markets over the past few days” but said the fiscal rules set in the October budget were “non-negotiable. ” he said.
“Growth is the government's number one mission to improve this country's economy,” he said, adding that his visit “will deliver tangible benefits for British businesses”.
The Governor of the Bank of England and the Director-General of the Financial Conduct Authority also took part in the visit.
Starmer is seeking to reset the UK's diplomatic relationship with China, balancing opportunities for trade and cooperation with the need to challenge Beijing on areas such as human rights and the war in Ukraine.
In November, Starmer became the first British prime minister to meet with Xi since they met at the G20 summit in Brazil in 2018.
But confidence is fragile following claims that a Chinese businessman used his relationship with Britain's Prince Andrew to spy for the Communist Party, although Beijing has dismissed the claims as “ridiculous”. are.
Reeves said on Saturday that it was “important that we can have an open and frank exchange” on issues where London and China differ, including concerns about national security, market access and the impact of subsidies and industrial policy.
Other issues are “Russia's illegal war in Ukraine… and Hong Kong, where we are concerned about rights and freedoms, but we also have common interests,” she said.
In response, he reiterated China's long-held position that China is “neither the originator of the Ukraine crisis nor a direct party to the conflict.”
“Hong Kong can serve as a bridge for closer cooperation between our two countries,” he added.
China is a long-time ally of Russia and has refused to condemn the invasion of Ukraine, despite criticism from Western governments that China is giving political and economic support to Moscow to wage a war of aggression. are.
Relations between Britain and China plummeted in 2020 after Beijing imposed a sweeping national security law on Hong Kong that sharply restricted the former British colony's freedoms.
