Exclusive-Britain and China to revive ‘Golden Era’ business dialogue during Starmer visit
by Joe Cash
BEIJING, Jan 21 (Reuters) – Britain and China aim to revive a “golden age” business dialogue when Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a planned visit to Beijing next week, three sources with knowledge of the initiative said, with senior executives from both sides expected to attend.
AstraZeneca, BP, HSBC, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Schroders and Standard Chartered are among the British companies preparing to join the renewed “UK-China CEO Council”.
The council was first conceived by then-Prime Minister Theresa May and then-Prime Minister Li Keqiang in 2018, during a period of ties that both sides called a “golden age”.
The sources added that the Chinese side should be represented by Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, China Rail and Rolling Stock Corporation, China National Pharmaceutical Group and BYD, among other companies.
Negotiations have been ongoing for some time, but sources said talks have only just begun in earnest, with Starmer’s visit largely dependent on approval on Tuesday for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in London.
A source said the British government was reluctant to add the word “CEO” to the name, while the Chinese side planned to keep the same Chinese translation used in 2018. Details such as the band’s official English name still need to be worked out.
All of the sources warned that US President Donald Trump’s threat to take Greenland could derail Starmer’s trip, adding that other elements of the visit were still being completed because the embassy decision was still very new.
One of the sources said the British side could announce the visit and Starmer’s schedule on Friday.
None of the sources could confirm which CEOs would attend; A corporate source said top executives declined because they were unsure if the visit would go ahead.
Reuters contacted all the companies expected to attend, as well as the British and Chinese foreign ministries, for comment, but none immediately responded.
BACK TO THE FUTURE
Starmer is set to make the first visit since 2018 by a British leader aiming to reset ties with the world’s second-largest economy after successive Conservative governments turned the UK from being one of Beijing’s strongest supporters in Europe to one of its harshest critics.
In a speech late last year, the Labor leader accused previous Conservative governments of a “dereliction of duty” by allowing ties with Beijing to sour, noting that French President Emmanuel Macron had visited China twice since 2018 and German leaders four times.
