China cautious on pre-Brexit trade talks with Britain, says UK envoy

Britain is pushing to solidify its future trading relationship with China, but Beijing is wary of providing any commitments until it sees how the Brexit deal plays out, according to a senior British trade official.

Barred from forging any trade agreements before it leaves the European Union, Britain is already laying the groundwork for a possible pact with China in the future, said Richard Burn, the UK’s newly-appointed trade commissioner to the world’s biggest trading nation.

Britain hopes to negotiate new trade deals or treaties with China during the two year implementation period after March 2019, Britain’s deadline for exiting the EU, Burn said in an interview in Beijing on Wednesday. But “China will be cautious about making any commitment until they see what we have agreed with the EU on that”, he said.

The two nations launched a review of their US$77 billion trading relationship during Prime Minister Theresa May’s visit to China last week, as Britain seeks to build ties with markets outside Europe that could prove crucial to British exports once it leaves the EU.

The review will provide the basis for future trade talks with China, which will be one of the top priorities when the Britain is free to negotiate deals, Burn said. He hopes any future trade pact with China would cover areas like financial services, life sciences and high-end technology.

Unlike the US, which has been vocal on what President Donald Trump has characterised as an unfair trade imbalance with China, Burn does not see Britain’s own deficit with the Asian nation as an issue. The gap is likely to narrow over time, as British exports to China are rising at a faster pace than Chinese imports into the UK, he said.