Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Driving commercial and political engagement between Asia, the Middle East and Europe
Britain wants to be China’s number one business partner in the West and wants ASEAN to see the UK as its gateway to Europe, Britain’s Secretary of State for Business Sajid Javid told the 7th World Chinese Economic Summit.
“If we take bold steps forward and make the UK-China relationship the best it can be, we will truly turn this golden year into a golden era – for the UK, for China, and for the ASEAN family,” Javid told conference delegates at London’s Savoy Hotel on Wednesday.
He said there was an increasingly natural fit between the Chinese and British economies with China offering the UK a huge new source of investment and export opportunities.
He said even if China’s economy grew only five per cent this year, it would represent a quarter of all global GDP growth in 2015.
So there was an opportunity for British companies to complement China’s drive to rebalance and reform its economy.
He said the benefits of working together were already evident. China was Jaguar Land Rover’s biggest market and the company had recently invested £520 million in the most modern engine plant in the UK, creating 1,000 new British jobs.
“And it has also opened its first ever overseas manufacturing facility, in Changshu – creating jobs for Chinese workers, too,” he said.
He said Britain was firmly established as the most popular destination in Europe for investment from China.
“Investment has come from sovereign wealth funds, state-owned enterprises and the private sector, and flowed into sectors as diverse as energy, retail and the digital economy,” he said.
He said the recent visit to Britain by China’s President Xi Jinping presented a unique opportunity to take economic ties to the next level.
“The tens of billions of pounds of new trade and investment deals announced during the visit offered a glimpse of what is possible,” Javid said.
Click below to see photos of the World Chinese Economic Summit
He pledged that as Britain built closer ties with China it would also do more trade with its neighbours in Southeast Asia.
“Because although bilateral trade between the UK and ASEAN markets was worth almost £23 billion last year, there’s a lot more we can do together.
“It’s a stunningly bad statistic that Britain still does more trade with Belgium than with the whole of Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam combined,” he said.
Britain was open to investors who wanted to seize the business opportunities on offer, such as a free market, an open, business-friendly regulatory framework and access to talent, skills and technology.
“We want to continue to welcome Chinese and Southeast Asian companies to the UK to compete on a level playing field with no barriers and no special favours,” Javid said.
He said there were opportunities to be part of the renaissance of Britain’s rail industry and for the UK supply chain to help China develop its own aircraft building programmes.
He urged more British brands to tap into the dramatic growth in Asian consumption and encouraged more Asian tech companies to carry out their research and development in Britain.
He added that Britain wanted to increase the number of banks clearing Chinese currency payments in London and to work with China to deliver better healthcare and help create the medicines of tomorrow.
“It’s a goal that is well within our reach,” he said.
David Cowell is a freelance business journalist.
To read what the former Vice Premier of China H.E. Zeng Peiyan had to say at the World Chinese Economic Summit click here.
