New chapter for Sino-UK trade ties

As the United Kingdom's prime minister is in China this week for the first time in eight years, it is worth recognizing the significance of the moment. Not because of ceremony, but because of what it enables.

In business, opportunity is rarely abstract. It does not sit somewhere in the background waiting to be discovered. Opportunity appears when movement meets readiness. Right now, that moment is directly in front of both British and Chinese businesses.

For more than 70 years, my family has been involved in the relationship between China and the UK. In 1952, London Export Corporation became the first Western company to trade with New China. One year later, in 1953, the Icebreaker Mission led to the formation of the 48 Group, established to support cooperation between China and the West on the basis of equality and mutual benefit.

Those early years were not about scale or speed. They were about trust. About travelling, listening, and building relationships when doing so was neither fashionable nor easy. That principle still matters today.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's visit matters because business and geopolitics now sit in the same vessel, even if they hold different oars. When both pull in the same direction, progress accelerates. When they do not, opportunity slows. After eight years without a visit at this level, presence itself creates momentum.

The world we are operating in today is not the world that defined the last four decades. The old economic model was built on layers of cement, real estate, banking, and mass consumption. Every sector depended on those foundations.

The world we are entering is built on a very different stack. Energy is the power. Quantum computing is the speed. Artificial intelligence is the brain. Robotics and automation are the point of execution, where ideas are turned into physical reality. These layers will underpin every industry, from manufacturing and logistics to healthcare, finance, hospitality and services.

China has spent years preparing for this shift. Through sustained investment in infrastructure, education, engineering capability, and industrial systems, it has positioned itself at the center of the next technological cycle. The result is not only innovation within China, but innovation that is ready to operate globally.

This creates a clear opportunity for the UK, which has deep strengths in software, governance, finance, research, and global deployment. China has scale, speed, manufacturing depth, and engineering excellence. Together, the two countries can be leading partners in the technologies that will define the next generation of growth.

What I see today is a gap on both sides that cooperation can close. Many UK and European businesses do not yet fully understand what is now possible in China, particularly in advanced technology. At the same time, many Chinese companies have world-class innovation but face real challenges in implementing that innovation at scale outside China.

The era of simply manufacturing in China and selling through others is ending. Chinese companies are now creating, cultivating, and selling directly into global markets. That shift does not reduce the role of British and European partners. It increases it. Globalization at speed requires trusted frameworks, local understanding, and long-term partnership.

This is one of the reasons we have established LEC Robotics, as a subsidiary of London Export Corporation. We are acting as sole distributors for leading Chinese robotics companies into the UK and European markets, with a clear focus on generating real sales and real deployment. This is not just about market entry. It is about ensuring that advanced Chinese hardware is matched with genuine demand in the West, helping to prevent overcapacity by converting innovation into commercial reality.

The future of automation will not be defined by hardware alone. It will be defined by how systems are integrated, governed, and deployed in real-world settings. By combining Chinese manufacturing strength with locally-owned software and long-term partnership structures, this model reflects where global cooperation in technology is heading. For British businesses, this moment matters. The reopening of senior-level engagement creates space for exploration, and exploration leads to investment. It opens opportunities not only for large multinationals, but for technology companies, investors, and institutions that have not previously engaged with China at depth.

For Chinese businesses, the opportunity is equally significant. Global markets are no longer something to observe from afar. They are something to participate in directly, with partners who understand regulation, culture and customer behavior.

This visit is not about revisiting the past. It is about aligning with the realities of the next 20 years. If the old world rewarded scale alone, the new world rewards integration. Energy, intelligence, and automation do not respect borders. They move fastest where cooperation is strongest.

The Icebreakers understood this in 1953. They moved when movement was required.

Today, the conditions are different, but the principle is the same. Progress belongs to those who engage early, build trust, and turn dialogue into action.

The UK prime minister's visit signals that movement is underway. What follows will depend on whether businesses on both sides are ready to step forward and build together.

The opportunity is not around us. It is in front of us.

The author is the chairman of the 48 Group and CEO of London Export Corporation.

The views don't necessarily represent those of China Daily.

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