CBBC emphatically refutes the allegation that CBBC is a pro-China group.  We are pro-UK and pro-business.  Above all, we are committed to working for you, our Members.

I rejoice in the freedoms which CBBC enjoys as a not-for-profit membership organisation based in the UK, to speak up for our beliefs and to operate under the transparent and impartial rule of law.  Having lived and worked in China for many years, I know some of the challenges which arise when those freedoms are not available in the same way.  Perhaps for that reason, I find it all the more ironic that some of our critics advocate the importance of free speech while calling for CBBC to be penalised for exercising our democratic right to advocate for a relationship which we passionately believe to be essential to the UK’s national interest.

CBBC will continue to make the patriotic case for the UK to engage with the world’s second largest economy and our third largest trading partner.  The benefits from that engagement include more than 100,000 British jobs; a £2 billion education market for Chinese students in our world-class universities and schools; and a million Chinese tourist and other visits to the UK each year.

CBBC remains committed to positive, open and realistic engagement with China as the best course for Britain.  And we remain committed to helping you, our Members, to realise the fruits of that engagement by providing practical advice and support.

Yours ever,

Matthew Rous
Chief Executive
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To view this statement in PDF please click HERE. 

Please address any enquiries related to this matter to Lise Bertelsen at lise.bertelsen@cbbc.org