【Text by Observer Net, Wang Yi】According to a report by the UK's The Guardian on September 7, as part of UK Prime Minister Starmer's continued efforts to revitalize Sino-UK trade relations and seek new sources of economic growth, the country's new Minister for Business and Trade, Peter Kyle, will travel to Beijing this week, marking the first Sino-British economic and trade talks in seven years.

The report stated that Kyle is expected to arrive in China on the 10th to attend the Sino-British Joint Trade and Economic Committee (JETCO) meeting, which has been held again after seven years. This trip was originally planned for the former UK Minister for Business and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds. However, during the cabinet reshuffle on the 5th following the resignation of the Deputy Prime Minister over tax evasion, Kyle was transferred from his previous position as Minister for Science, Innovation and Technology to Minister for Business and Trade, taking over Reynolds' itinerary.

Peter Kyle, the new UK Minister for Business and Trade, UK Government Official Website

Before visiting China, Kyle will fly to Washington to pave the way for President Trump's upcoming visit to the UK and meet with White House officials to discuss establishing a partnership in the field of AI. Kyle will also meet with corporate executives to "solidify" the image of the UK as a global investment destination.

The UK's Independent newspaper pointed out that Kyle's engagement with the two largest economies in the world this week indicates that the Starmer government will advance trade in a practical manner, seeking new sources of economic growth for the UK.

Since the Labour Party came to power last year, senior members of the UK cabinet have made frequent visits to China. After the then Foreign Secretary, now Deputy Prime Minister Lammy, visited China in October last year, Chancellor of the Exchequer Reeves also visited China in January this year.

Douglas Alexander, the UK's Minister for Trade Policy who visited China in April, said last week that the relationship between the UK and China fell from its "golden age" during the previous Conservative government, and "there has been almost no ministerial-level contact between the UK and China in recent years," while the EU and the US still maintain high-level exchanges with China. Now, under the Labour government, the UK is cautiously seeking to restore relations with China, hoping to attract foreign investments, including from China.

For a long time, British businesses have been looking forward to restoring and promoting trade with China. The UK-China Chamber of Commerce stated in a report in May that high-level dialogues such as the Sino-British Joint Trade and Economic Committee meetings are "urgently needed" mechanisms to stimulate bilateral trade and investment. These meetings were originally held annually, but they were suspended after the deterioration of relations between the two countries due to the Hong Kong issue in 2018.

Tom Simpson, the China regional director of the UK-China Business Council, said that the UK has lacked a clear China strategy over the past seven or eight years, leading to "stop-and-go" progress, and frequent changes in leadership have made it difficult for the relationship to stabilize. However, since the last election, "we have seen contacts improving steadily, not only the quality of exchanges has improved, but many previously neglected areas of cooperation are also being restored."

Currently, China is the UK's fifth-largest export market, with total bilateral goods and services trade amounting to around £41 billion (approximately RMB 395.6 billion). A source told The Guardian that maintaining contact with China is the right thing for the UK government to do in creating jobs and serving national interests, because "to talk about economic growth, you must talk about China."

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