U.K.'s Hammond Set to Agree on $1.3 Billion of Deals With China
U.K.'s Hammond Set to Agree $1.3 Billion of Deals With China
(Bloomberg) -- U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond will seal more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) of trade and investment deals with China during a two-day visit to the Asian nation, the Treasury said Friday.
Hammond will hold talks with Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai during the ninth gathering of the U.K.-China Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing this weekend, the Treasury said in an emailed statement. He’ll be accompanied on the visit by Business Secretary Greg Clark, Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney, and London Stock Exchange Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Rathi, as well as several junior ministers and a wider business delegation.
Britain is trying to deepen its trading ties with the largest economies outside Europe as it negotiates an exit from the European Union, the world’s biggest trading bloc. That means boosting trade with China, the second-biggest economy, which currently buys 16.8 billion pounds a year of British exports. That compares with the 230 billion pounds of goods and services Britain sells to the EU.
No details were provided about the trade and investment deals expected. During the visit, Britain aims to deepen the financial services relationship with China and cooperate on economic reforms and renewable energy, the Treasury said.
Other companies with representatives accompanying the chancellor include: Arup Ltd., Barclays PLC, BlackRock Inc., HSBC Holdings Plc, and Standard Chartered Bank.
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Morales in London at amorales2@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flavia Krause-Jackson at fjackson@bloomberg.net, Robert Jameson
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