The Secretary of State began his visit with a meeting with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng at the Great Hall of the People.

During the meeting, Vice Premier He Lifeng noted that China will continue working with the UK to implement the important consensus reached between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, to promote the sound, steady, and sustained growth of bilateral economic and trade cooperation, and to advance China-UK relations on a stable and long-term course. He stressed that China remains committed to high-level opening-up, strongly supports British companies in strengthening their confidence to invest in China, further deepening their presence in the Chinese market, and sharing the benefits of China’s vast market.

Mr Kyle said: “British businesses will be an important part of my visit, helping open doors to greater commercial opportunities. More discussions and direct engagement with China will ensure trade between us can flourish, strengthen our national security, and create space to raise concerns constructively where needed. It comes as new figures show nearly £2 billion in export wins to China were supported by government in the last financial year, with creative industries, retail, and healthcare among the biggest successes.”

CBBC Chief Executive, Peter Burnett attended the meeting, and said “The new Business Secretary, Peter Kyle, has made it clear that he wants to stick with DBT’s programme for China despite only being appointed six days ago. Kyle was joined by a delegation of UK companies, including the China-Britain Business Council, to meet with Vice Premier He Lifeng this morning and was received warmly at the Great Hall of the People. The exchange was constructive and sets a strong precursor for tomorrow’s JETCO with MofCom.”

The minister’s programme continues tomorrow (Thursday, 11th September) with the Joint Economic Trade Commission (JETCo), the first such dialogue to be held since 2018. Co-chaired by Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao and Mr Kyle, JETCo is a government-to-government forum that promotes bilateral economic and trade cooperation, including facilitating policy exchange and addressing market access issues.

CBBC is closely involved in business activity around the Secretary of State’s visit, joining visits and running events alongside the official programme. We will continue to update on activity as the week progresses.
 

For further information about the Secretary of State’s visit to China please click here: UK to hold first trade talks with China in 7 years - GOV.UK