Face-to-face talks will boost trade, says British Chamber of Commerce in China

CGTN Europe

CGTN Europe spoke to Chris Torrens, Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China.

Transcript

00:00The British Chamber of Commerce in China says most of its members are hoping for a thaw in China-U.S. relations.

00:13And despite ongoing uncertainty, many British businesses aren't planning to scale back their investment in China.

00:20In this episode of the Leaders Lounge, C.G. Chen's Paul Barber spoke to the Chamber's chairman, Chris Torrens,

00:26to discuss their assessment of China's business environment.

00:31So the position paper this year, it's in its seventh year of publication,

00:35so we've been following the mood and the sentiment of our members over those seven years since 2019.

00:44And while the general feeling is still that China, I think for the fifth year,

00:49has been becoming a tougher environment to work in or a more complicated environment to work in,

00:54we also know that the members that we talk to are not planning to reduce their investment in any way.

01:03In many cases, they're actually increasing investment or holding their investment.

01:07So that tells us, you know, there's a bit of a contradiction there.

01:09It tells us on the one hand, yes, things are difficult in China.

01:13And that's not just market access.

01:14That's also the economy and perhaps some geopolitical challenges.

01:19But it also says that China is a market that they can't afford not to be in

01:24and that they see huge benefits there, both in terms of manufacturing but also as a consumer market as well.

01:30And I think our members overall feel that the trajectory of the UK-China relationship is also on their side.

01:38So I think there's a, you know, we felt quite positive, actually,

01:41when we, you know, when we got those, when they got those readouts from our members

01:46and we feel it's going in the right direction.

01:48Now, the resumption of high-level dialogues, including the UK-China economic financial dialogue, the EFD,

01:54clearly a really important development for those platforms.

01:57What new trade opportunities do you foresee?

02:00So it was great to see the EFD back on the agenda.

02:03Obviously, it's helped to maintain the momentum that we've seen from the UK government under this new administration

02:09since Foreign Secretary David Lamming's visit in the autumn

02:11and then the meeting between Prime Minister Starmer and President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of Rio in December.

02:20And then with the Chancellor Rachel Reeves' visit and the EFD,

02:24again, that was a really important milestone, I think, in terms of maintaining this momentum.

02:29And within the position paper, we note that some 29 of the 50 overall recommendations

02:35that we've made to the Chinese government on behalf of our members,

02:3929 of those recommendations were actually addressed.

02:43And I think there are a number of key areas where we're quite positive,

02:47less on the financial side, although obviously some progress was made there.

02:52But in areas like sport, you know, we work with the Premier League

02:56who have launched in China recently.

03:00Football, soccer is a massively popular sport in China.

03:04I think the upper echelons of the Chinese leadership would love to see China succeeding again.

03:11And so that is, I think, a really interesting part of UK exports.

03:17Despite the challenges, the paper suggests that China is, of course,

03:21a really crucial market for British businesses.

03:23And you've touched on the enduring commitment to the Chinese market.

03:27What sectors in particular are you excited about?

03:30Which show the most promise for foreign investment, especially for British companies?

03:34I think healthcare is probably one we'd call out,

03:37in part because obviously China is a huge market.

03:40And as China's population have developed,

03:43they have sadly started to suffer from many of the sort of the ailments

03:51that the Western world and more developed economies deal with.

03:54So pharmaceutical companies, GSK, AstraZeneca,

03:57obviously has made some significant investment there.

04:00But also from a technological perspective, from a medtech perspective,

04:07the startups that we're seeing in China,

04:10some of the IP that's being developed here,

04:11the innovation, the creativity on the Chinese side,

04:15that really raises the potential of globalizing that kind of technology.

04:20So we're seeing UK healthcare companies coming in for the Chinese market

04:24and to benefit from the consumer market,

04:26but also to take advantage of some of that innovation and those startups.

04:31And those technologies and those services,

04:33they can then globalize, take them beyond China back to the West.

04:37And your position paper does outline the frictions,

04:41the US-China frictions that British businesses are exposed to.

04:46How are they positioning themselves to de-risk that?

04:50It's really difficult. It's a very good question.

04:52It's very difficult to de-risk in a world that's just so interconnected.

04:56And it's extremely difficult for many of our members

04:58who may be manufacturing in China but having US inputs,

05:02or they may have Chinese inputs into products and services

05:05which ultimately end up in the US.

05:07So we found that UK companies have been wrapped up in that.

05:12And so de-risking, or at least trying to mitigate that risk to an extent,

05:17has been a priority for many of our members.

05:19And they're doing that by setting up alternative production sites and manufacturing.

05:26But also, I think, by just hoping perhaps and waiting for more positive change

05:31in terms of the US-China relationship.

05:33And finally, Chris, if you could deliver one message to policymakers

05:37here in Britain but also in China,

05:40what would that message be on behalf of the British businesses that you represent?

05:43I think it would be, let's keep the senior engagement going

05:46because those senior engagement events are what move the dial

05:53in terms of actual policy decisions.

05:55So let's resume the people-to-people exchange that we have

05:58and let's try to rebuild trust based on that person-to-person exchange.

06:05I think that would be my key message to both governments.

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