Britain and China aim to revive a “golden era” business dialogue when Prime Minister Keir Starmer makes a planned Beijing visit next week, said three sources familiar with the initiative, with top executives from both sides expected to participate.
AstraZeneca, BP, HSBC, Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce, Schroders and Standard Chartered, are among the British firms set to join a revamped “UK-China CEO Council”.
The council was originally conceived by then-Prime Minister Theresa May and then-Premier Li Keqiang in 2018, during a period of ties both sides dubbed “a golden era.”
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, the sources added.
Negotiations have been underway for a while, but with Starmer’s visit largely contingent on approval on Tuesday for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in London, talks have only just begun in earnest, the sources said.
Details such as the group’s official English-language name still need to be settled, one source said, with the British government reluctant to include “CEO” in the title, while the Chinese side plans to keep the same Chinese translation used in 2018.
All of the sources cautioned that U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to acquire Greenland could derail Starmer’s trip, while adding that with the embassy decision still so recent, other elements of the visit were still being finalised.
The British side could announce the visit and Starmer’s schedule as soon as Friday, one of the sources said.
None of the sources could confirm which CEOs would attend, with one corporate source noting their chief executive had declined, unable to be sure the visit would proceed.
Reuters contacted all of the companies expected to attend for comment, as well as the British and Chinese foreign ministries, but none immediately responded.
Source: Reuters