Britain's doors 'wide open' to Chinese investment: minister George Osborne
UK finance chief George Osborne, leading a delegation of government and business leaders, looks to 'a big step forward' in economic ties
Britain's doors were wide open to companies from China and relaxed foreign ownership rules made it the most obvious destination for Chinese investment, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said yesterday.
"I don't think you will find anywhere in the western world a country more open to Chinese investment [than Britain]," Osborne said at a CEO roundtable meeting ahead of the fifth China-UK economic and financial dialogue starting today.
Vice-Premier Ma Kai said economic co-operation between China and Britain had developed quickly after the global financial crisis in 2008.
"Infrastructure, financial and information technology are the major areas of China-UK co-operation," Ma said.
A number of companies such as HSBC and Standard Chartered had entered China in its early days of opening up, he said.
Chinese companies such as telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies and ZTE had a presence in Britain, he added.
Ding Xuedong, the chairman of sovereign wealth fund China Investment Corp, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China's chairman, Jiang Jianqing, and China Construction Bank's chairman, Wang Hongzhang, attended the roundtable.