 "UK may revive China trade talks. What caused the years-long freeze?")
Business and Trade Secretary of United Kingdom, Jonathan Reynolds said that the UK may be ‘open’ to reviving key trade talks with China, following years of diplomatic distance over human rights and security concerns. Speaking to political news agency Politico Europe, Reynolds said that ‘cooperation is possible with China’ and was “certainly open to having a conversation” about reopening the Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meetings between the nations.
UK-China trade freeze
The UK has frozen ministerial-level dialogues, including the JETCO meetings, since 2019. The trade freeze was initially put in place under Theresa May’s government when Britain suspended ministerial-level trade discussions with China, including JETCO talks, due to escalating geopolitical and human rights concerns. This came in response to China’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong.
This shift continued across multiple British administrations. Conservative critics have argued against strengthening economic ties with a nation they view as posing a growing challenge to global security and democracy.
British leaders have labelled China as an ‘epoch-defining and systemic challenge’.
Efforts to reignite UK-China trade talks
In 2021, then UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak briefly opened the door to economic discussions with China through a revived ‘UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue’. However, this effort faced considerable internal resistance, ultimately stalling once again.
In 2022, Boris Johnson’s departure as Prime Minister brought another pause to any plans for re-engaging with China. His successor Liz Truss went on to adopt an even more guarded stance toward Beijing.
However, under Sunak’s leadership, the government reviewed options for possible re-engagement, yet issues around alleged espionage and other security risks have kept relations tense and unresolved. Talks of revival seemed to completely die down with the conservative party ousting in the 2024 United Kingdom general election, held in July this year.
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The UK maintains JETCO talks with several countries. These are typically opportunities for negotiating smaller export agreements and identifying ways to reduce trade barriers. Ministers and corporate leaders regularly participate in these forums to discuss areas of trade cooperation.
China open to reviving trade talks with UK
Last month, Chinese state media Xinhua reported that the country is ready to reopen economic conversations with the UK. Vice Premier He Lifeng said China aims to expand cooperation across areas like finance, the green economy, biomedicine, and artificial intelligence.
UK will put forward its demands to China
UK’s Business and Trade Secretary Reynolds is now echoing similar openness towards talks. Speaking to Politico, he stressed the importance of balancing cooperation with clear expectations. Adding that while they may be open to discussing the resumption of JETCO, the UK will also put forward specific demands.
This may include addressing issues around China’s pandemic-related restrictions on British pork exports. These restrictions led to the suspension of export licences for major UK abattoirs in 2022. Reynolds had also raised the export issue directly with China’s Vice-Minister of Commerce, Wang Shouwen, during a side meeting at the G20 trade summit. He expressed concerns about the effect of these curbs on local economies in the UK, where factory closures have resulted from lost access to Chinese markets.