Facing an economic crisis across Europe and uncertainty about the policies of the new Trump Administration towards Europe, the U.K. is trying to strengthen its ties to China. On Jan. 11, Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves co-chaired the 11th China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue, the first such meeting in six years. The grouping is an important mechanism for dialogue and cooperation on strategic, overall and long-term major issues in the economic and financial fields. During the dialogue, the two sides reached a series of mutually beneficial outcomes and consensus, Xinhua News Agency reported.
Reeves then visited Shanghai on Jan. 12, where she met Shanghai Mayor Gong Zheng. “We look forward to the city of Shanghai and the U.K. strengthening economic exchanges, industrial investment, financial opening-up and tech innovation cooperation, and warmly welcome British companies to attend the China International Import Expo this year and increase their presence in Shanghai in sectors such as clean energy, advanced manufacturing and healthcare,” Gong said. Reeves noted that Shanghai plays an important role in China-U.K. cooperation, with two-thirds of British companies operating in China building their headquarters in Shanghai.
