Business and trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, is set to visit China in a bid to revive the UK-Chinese economic relationship, only days after he suggested he would “never” allow a Chinese company into the steel sector again.
The Guardian reported that Reynolds will visit China later this year for “high-level talks”. The trip is intended to restart the UK-China joint economic and trade commission (Jetco), which has not met since 2018.
The Labour government is also set to release its cross-Whitehall audit of UK-China relations by June, containing a series of policy recommendations on improving the UK government’s knowledge of China.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) said:
“We are taking a consistent and strategic approach to our trade relationship with China, engaging in areas of trade that benefit the UK’s national interest”.
Steel debate
On Monday (14 April) the government took control of British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant, amid accusations that the Chinese owners, Jingye, were planning to deliberately run down the furnaces and render them unusable.
Chinese foreign spokesperson, Lin Jian, appeared to downplay China’s connection to Jingye, saying that it was a ”private Chinese enterprise”.
Jian called for the UK to refrain from turning trade cooperation into “political and security issues”.
Despite Reynolds comments that he would not “personally bring a Chinese company into our steel sector" again, industry minister Sarah Jones said she is not “ruling out” the possibility of another Chinese partner for the sector.
While he acknowledged concerns around over-production and dumping by China of steel products, Reynolds yesterday (15 April) clarified that he was referring to a "specific company" with his comments on Chinese ownership.
Jones confirmed that enough materials had been delivered to the plant to guarantee the furnaces could remain open.
‘Delighted’
Reynolds told Sky News that he was “delighted” that enough raw materials had been secured to keep British Steel going.
The Stalybridge and Hyde MP said that nationalisation of British Steel was the “likely option at this stage”.
He said that steel was a “sensitive sector”, referring to concerns over the production and dumping of the metal.
In the past China has been accused by various nations of dumping its products in foreign markets. Countries like Colombia, Chile and Malaysia have all launched probes into China’s steel practices over the last year.
