00:00Now, Stephen Lynch is the Director of International Trade at the British Chambers of Commerce.
00:05He joins us now. Hi, Stephen.
00:07Peter Kahl says China's economic power is unignorable.
00:11Do you agree with him?
00:14Well, I think in very short, yes, absolutely.
00:16I mean, geopolitically, you can't ignore China.
00:19Economically, you absolutely can't ignore China.
00:21And if we're looking at our bilateral relationship in regards to the UK-China relationship,
00:26you know, not engaging, it will be a bigger risk.
00:28So I really do welcome our new Secretary of State for Business and Trade going to China.
00:35You know, as mentioned, China is the second largest economy on the planet.
00:38It's our fifth largest trading partner.
00:40It's the hub of so many, you know, sectors in regards to innovation, green economy.
00:45And there are massive, massive opportunities.
00:47So you cannot ignore China, but we must engage with China in a clear-eyed, pragmatic way.
00:52And so I really do welcome the Secretary of State's visit.
00:55I think it's important.
00:56He's four or five days into the job, and it shows the critical nature of our relationship
01:01with China, that this is one of his first international visits.
01:04Of course, it's all about business as well.
01:07You represent a British business.
01:09Is there a clear interest from British companies in these trade talks, in what's going on in
01:15China and the opportunities there may be?
01:17Absolutely. And I think this is a really important set for the UK.
01:23I agree with your colleague before.
01:25This is not a full reset, but it's a very clear sign that this UK government is putting
01:30China as a priority market.
01:32We've had eight or nine ministerial visits.
01:34Our new business secretary, four or five days into the role, is moving out there to create
01:38these first trade dialogues.
01:40The first time we've had these in seven years.
01:41This is a clear indication that we're making concrete steps towards growth and towards trade.
01:47And I will say also, you know, this is a clear indication that the UK is charting its own
01:51course.
01:51Just yesterday or the day before, the business secretary was in the US looking at AI deals
01:56and regulations ahead of the much anticipated Donald Trump visit.
02:00So this is not a choice of us looking at the UK, the US or China.
02:04This is charting our own path and making concrete terms towards trade, which I think is very
02:08welcome.
02:09Do you see a marked difference in the approach from the UK compared to the EU business approach
02:16to China?
02:18I would say in many ways the UK and the EU are actually quite aligned in our approach to
02:22China.
02:22I will say that many of the member states of the UK, EU have faster tracked exports regulation.
02:31So, you know, that is something we're absolutely looking for the business secretary to negotiate
02:35on.
02:36And again, you know, there are so many opportunities of China, but China must move further and faster
02:40when we're talking about market access barriers, because we want to do more trade with China.
02:45A hundred billion pounds is our bilateral relationship with China, but 30% of those are exports and
02:51they're mainly in goods. And we are a serviced economy here in the UK. So if we can unlock
02:55some of these market access barriers, it should be an enormous lever of growth for the UK and
02:59an enormous benefit for China.
03:01Wonderful. Thank you so much for speaking to us. Stephen Lynch is the Director of International
03:05Trade at the British Commerce, Chambers of Commerce.
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