UK prime minister Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants a “strong UK-China relationship” after meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit.
Warm words?
The BBC reports that the prime minister wants closer business cooperation between the two countries, as well as a focus on “areas of mutual cooperation” that he suggested could include climate change and economic growth. He said:
"We want our relations to be consistent, durable, respectful, as we have agreed, avoid surprises where possible.
"The UK will be a predictable, consistent, sovereign actor committed to the rule of law."
He also emphasised that the UK’s relationship with China under his leadership would be “pragmatic” and that he would make it clear when there was disagreement on issues with the Asian nation.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves could also meet Chinese vice premier He Lifeng “to explore more investment projects and a more level playing field to help our businesses”, he said.
Xi, meanwhile, said that “we will break new ground in the China-UK relationship amid a changing world, and better underscore our relationship’s relevance for the times and its significance for the world”.
EU tech talk
China’s relationship with Europe came under the spotlight elsewhere today (19 November), as the FT reported that the EU’s leadership is considering forcing Chinese companies to transfer intellectual property (IP) to European firms, if they want to win grants for the development of green technologies on the continent.
Chinese companies could be required to build factories in Europe and to share knowledge with EU firms in order to qualify for €1bn in subsidies set to be awarded by Brussels next month.
Similar requirements are already in place for European companies looking to access China’s market.
Playing along
An EU diplomat, speaking anonymously to the FT, suggested that the EU’s hardening stance on Chinese trade comes as a result not only of alleged undercutting by subsidised and less regulated Chinese companies, but also because of the imminent return of Donald Trump to the US presidency:
“If we want to play along with Trump on some of his agenda then we need to decide what to do about China.”
Centre for European Reform senior research fellow Elisabetta Cornago also spoke to the FT, suggesting that the European Commission was planning “against a possible flood or redirection of Chinese trade flows towards Europe” in reaction to US restrictions on Chinese imports.
‘Technical consensus’
There was, however, something of a breakthrough on one dimension of the EU-China trade relationship over the weekend.
According to Bloomberg, who were reporting on a post by Chinese state-run media, the two sides have reached a “technical consensus” on the shape of ‘price undertakings’. These are measures designed to avoid tariffs, in this case those recently imposed on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs) imported into the EU.
The post stated:
“The consensus on the price commitment framework refers to some certain agreements reached by both parties in this round of negotiations about the overall framework, which also indicates that both parties are willing to focus their resources on negotiating core interests and strive towards the same goal.”
Those reporting that China had yet to satisfy EU demands on pricing were “intentionally misleading public opinion and interfering with the negotiation process”, it added.