London’s Mansion House is used to providing the backdrop for major economic policy announcements. But the meeting it hosts, today, between the UK and Chinese governments could yet prove to be one of the more significant.
That’s because the 15th meeting of the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) is not just another standalone meeting. It sits within a sequence of renewed engagement: the JETCO in Beijing last September, the Prime Minister’s visit to China in January, the Economic and Financial Dialogue, and now Chinese Commerce Minister, Wang Wentao, meeting with Business and Trade Secretary, Peter Kyle.
Is this a breakthrough? I would say the better question to ask is: Can the UK rebuild the machinery needed to make trade with China work in practice?
This is not about pretending the UK-China relationship is straightforward and simple. It is not. But it is about rebuilding structured dialogue in one of the UK’s most commercially important, politically complex and strategically sensitive relationships.
These are my five key takeaways on why today matters:
- JETCO is about vital trade machinery
This is the 15th UK-China JETCO. It is a government-to-government forum designed to deal with the practical issues that shape trade: market access, regulatory barriers, investment conditions, sector cooperation and business confidence. These may sound dry topics but, for business, they have huge repercussions: tariffs, licences, qualifications, standards, approvals, professional recognition, buyer connections and sector access.
These are the things that decide whether ambition to enter the market turns into exports.
- The relationship is large, but if your business isn’t then it is difficult to access.
China, including Hong Kong, is worth around £135bn in trade with the UK. That makes it one of our most important trading relationships, but scale does not mean simplicity.
For many UK firms, especially SMEs, China remains hard to enter, hard to understand and hard to navigate. It is a market where relationships matter, regulation matters, local knowledge matters and patience matters. That is why the launch of the government’s Trade Booster is so important. It is designed to give UK businesses more practical support to export to China. That is welcome as the challenge has always been about helping firms move from interest to execution in a safe way.
- Services are the real prize.
The UK is a services superpower. Financial services. Professional advice. Legal expertise, education, architecture, engineering, healthcare, standards, insurance, creative industries, and digital and business services. This is where the UK has genuine global advantage.
Yet China is still only our ninth-largest services export destination. That tells us two things at once: the opportunity is significant, and the barriers are real. That is why the Joint Feasibility Study on a bilateral Trade in Services Agreement matters. It will not deliver overnight change, these agreements take years, and China’s services market is heavily regulated.
But even incremental progress is worth pursuing because of the size of the prize. The aim should be clear, make it easier for UK services firms to operate, partner, advise, invest and grow in China and in partnership with China in third markets.
- The detail mattersÂ
Some of the most useful outcomes are not the grand politics but the specific commercial wins:
- Barclays becoming the first UK-incorporated bank to enter China’s domestic bond market through Panda Bond issuances.
- Brompton building a serious presence in China over nearly two decades.
- CIMA working on mutual recognition of qualifications.
- The Royal College of Surgeons partnering with Chinese healthcare institutions.
- Formula E expanding commercial partnerships in China.
- Silverstream Technologies working with Chinese shipyards.
- Anemoi Marine Technologies securing export value through rotor sail technology.
- World Snooker agreeing a five-year deal in China.
- Cultech partnering with China Resources on life sciences exports from Wales.
- China is also making a point.
The ‘Export to China’ message is deliberate. China is not only saying: ‘buy from us’. It is also saying: ‘Our market is open, so sell to us’. That matters against the backdrop of global concerns around overcapacity, trade imbalances and protectionism. It also fits China’s own domestic priorities around consumption, opening-up and attracting high-quality goods and services.
The UK should engage with that offer, but with clear eyes.
From a BCC perspective we want JETCO to deliver practical market access, greater regulatory predictability and real commercial opportunity for UK businesses. It will not solve the full complexity of the UK-China relationship. Issues around British Steel, national security, supply chain resilience, unfair competition and wider geopolitical risk all remain firmly in the picture.
But a serious trade relationships need channels, structure and the ability to have difficult conversations alongside commercial ones. The UK-China relationship needs realism, consistency and practical delivery and today’s JETCO should be judged by whether it helps more UK firms export, compete and build long-term partnerships in one of the world’s most important economies.