China’s relations with Britain will remain unchanged through Brexit, Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday, as British Prime Minister Theresa May kicked off a three-day visit to China, where she aims to sign deals worth nine billion pounds.
Britain is trying to reinvent itself as a global trading nation after a 2016 referendum decision to leave the European Union (EU), but Brexit has unnerved Beijing, even as London hopes to sign a free trade deal with the world’s second-largest economy.
Speaking to reporters after meeting Ms. May in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People, Mr. Li proffered support for relations between the two countries, which both like to refer to as being in a “golden era”. “Our relationship will not change because of changes in Britain-Europe ties,” Mr. Li said.
Ms. May, who is perceived to be less keen on courting China than her predecessor, David Cameron, said she was committed to deepening the relationship in light of Brexit and would explore all options in future trade ties.
She said the two countries would agree on more than nine billion pounds worth of deals during her visit, and that China had agreed to lift a ban on British beef exports within the next six months. “We have also agreed to open up the Chinese market to enable our great U.K. financial services expertise to reach more Chinese consumers.”
China accounts for just a small proportion of British exports, 3.1% in 2016, versus 43% for the EU.
Britain was the first Western country to sign up to the China-backed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and it sent Finance Minister Philip Hammond to a Beijing summit last year about President Xi Jinping’s flagship ‘Belt and Road Initiative’. Ms. May said the Belt and Road had huge potential and that U.K. was a “natural partner”, but cautioned that projects had to carried out in the proper way.
