UK business leaders eye closer ties with China

Businesses in the United Kingdom expect more engagement, trade and collaboration with their counterparts in China, said leaders of several British business communities after learning about the outcome of the third plenary session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.

The resolution adopted at the plenum, which concluded in Beijing in mid-July, comprises more than 300 important reform measures, with many addressing concerns of foreign businesses about accessing China's market and getting equal treatment.

"For the business community, you may want to pay special attention to reforms in the following areas: market economy, innovation, green development and opening-up," said Zheng Zeguang, China's ambassador to the UK, at a reception held in London on July 30 by the China-Britain Business Council and the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK.

Zheng briefed an audience of over 150 officials, scholars and business representatives about the plenum and updated them on the latest progress of the Chinese economy. "Our cooperation can help grow our respective economies, bring down the cost of living, raise productivity and accelerate the green transition," he said. "The Chinese market will always be open to British businesses."

Peter Burnett, chief executive of the China-Britain Business Council, said he was encouraged after listening to the speech by the ambassador. "It's very clear that the reform and opening-up program continues," he said. "There are many measures that have been announced in the outcomes of the third plenum, and there are lots for us to do, and that is good."

Burnett said he thinks the new UK government is going to engage more with China because China plays an important role in global supply chains. "I think they will be spending more time on the subject and engaging positively," he said.

"On the whole, the UK business community is optimistic about the Chinese economy and Chinese market. … They look at China and they see an affluent middle class who want to buy British brands, British goods, British-produced commodities," added Burnett.

Fang Wenjian, chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK, said the resolution from the plenum is reassuring as the emphasis on reform and opening-up reinforces the certainty and consistency of China's government policies.

"Certainty and consistency of policies are so important for business. With great confidence, we can continue to implement our business strategies both in the UK and in China," he said, adding that the reform measures mentioned in the resolution of the plenum highlight the vast opportunities for trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

"In the finance area where I'm working, there will be a continuous focus on tech finance, green finance, inclusive finance, pension finance and digital finance," he said. "And the deepening of the capital market reform will create more opportunities for UK investors and financial institutions, including asset managers or insurance firms."

Rhys Whalley, executive director of the Manchester China Forum, which focuses on building Greater Manchester's long-term commercial links with China, said the plenum "is a very strong message of commitment to welcoming foreign investors, encouraging more to come in and the continued relaxation of that environment for foreign businesses to operate."

Whalley highlighted the green and low-carbon economy as an important area for future collaboration. "We all can recognize the challenges that climate change is presenting, and the critical importance of both sides coming together to work on those areas, and China is already a global leader in that area," he said, adding that a China-UK hydrogen energy cooperation forum will take place in Manchester later this year.

John McLean, chairman of China UK Business Development Centre, said he thinks the resolution from the plenum has recognized the challenges that China has to face and what has to be done to fix them, and the encouragement and support for small and medium-sized enterprises will inject dynamism into the Chinese economy.

"I sense there is a tonal change and it makes people far more open and confident. And we know confidence breeds opportunity," he said, adding that the center is planning to open offices in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, and Chongqing later this year, and will organize a delegation of British technology companies to visit China in September.

"This is people-to-people exchanges. It's you come to see me, I come to see you, and then we agree on what we can do," he said. "We've got to keep this engagement going."