China, U.K. restart economic and financial talks after six-year hiatus

China and Britain resume economic talks to strengthen ties, address trade barriers, and promote cooperation in various sectors.

China and Britain restarted economic and financial talks on Saturday (January 11, 2025) after a six-year hiatus during a visit by Britain's Treasury chief to Beijing, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with the world's second-largest economy.

Rachel Reeves travelled to Beijing accompanied by a delegation of British business leaders and finance officials. She met with Chinese leaders including Vice-Premier He Lifeng and Vice-President Han Zheng.

The two sides revived the China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations. London hopes renewed dialogues will help bring down barriers that U.K. businesses face when looking to export or expand to China.

“Today, marks a significant milestone in the U.K.-China relationship with the first Economic and Financial Dialogue between our countries for nearly six years,” Ms. Reeves said. She said the meeting signaled the new U.K. government’s “commitment to fostering a stable, long-term partnership” with China and desire to boost economic cooperation.

“Britain wants to improve exchanges in areas such as sustainable finance, capital markets connectivity, pensions and regulatory alignment, as well as trade and investment,” Ms. Reeves added.

“As part of this, it is important to prevent economic links weakening our national security and economic resilience,” she said.

The Vice-Premier said China and Britain should improve cooperation in trade and investment, clean energy, financial services, the green economy, biomedicine, artificial intelligence and other fields.