00:00Vince Cable is a former UK Business Secretary.
00:04Well, I think probably the surest sign is that there's as little politics as possible
00:09and that people are just quietly getting on with their business arrangements.
00:14You know, there's a lot happening anyway.
00:18A large number of Chinese students come to Britain, tourists come, business deals are
00:24being struck and that's the way it should be.
00:26I think once it becomes noisy and political, then you've got a problem.
00:31Wang Wendtel spoke about turning potential into concrete achievement.
00:36What's the one thing both governments should prioritise next to make that happen?
00:40Well, I'm not sure that government setting the priorities is the right way to go about this.
00:47About 90% of the British economy, maybe 80-90% of its services,
00:53that's true of all advanced industrial countries, it will increasingly be true of China.
00:58So most of our business transactions are likely to be in the services area.
01:04But since Brexit, turnover in the UK has become very, very rapid.
01:11So I would hope that when the next government is formed, presumably under Mr. Burnham,
01:17there's as little disruption as possible and that, you know, roles like the Chancellor,
01:22the Business Secretary stay as they are.
01:25But I don't think ideologically, politically, there will be any difference.
01:29And just as this is happening, new steel safeguards are coming into effect across the UK and Europe.
01:36What does that signal for the wider direction of global trade, including UK-China relations?
01:43Well, steel is to some extent a special case.
01:47There is massive overcapacity in wool markets.
01:51There is in China.
01:52We know that the Chinese government is trying to cut back on excess capacity.
01:59We have a steel industry here that is really struggling.
02:02But in Britain, the steel industry is reduced to the bare minimum and the government's committed to keeping it.
02:09So we want imports to support that rather than undercutting.
02:15And I think where there is proven evidence of either dumping or subsidization,
02:21you would expect the British government to react to that.
02:25I can't comment on the details, but I think that is the policy,
02:30that we want to remain an open economy and to maintain good trade relations with China and other partners.
02:37But where there is subsidization or dumping, then there will be tariff countervailing duties against it.
02:46UK Business Secretary Peter Carl said serious engagement is back.
02:51Thinking about your time as Business Secretary, what does it take to make this relationship stick?
02:58Well, when I was Business Secretary, we were part of what was called the golden era.
03:03I'm always myself a bit suspicious of this rhetoric.
03:08I don't think you need rhetoric.
03:09You just need common sense and avoidance of ideological conflict.
03:15I think it's the job of politicians to create a good, stable environment within which businesses can then operate
03:24and do business without political interference.
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