U.K. Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Saturday announced major agreements with China and defended her effort to improve economic ties with Beijing.
Facing criticism for travelling to China amid financial market turmoil at home, Reeves told a press conference in Beijing that she will work to ensure the U.K. government’s fiscal rules are met. The chancellor is looking to revive high-level economic and financial talks with China after years of tension with the previous Conservative government over human rights and security concerns.
Reeves said “reengagement with China” would deliver a boost of up to £1 billion for the British economy.
A healthy relationship with Beijing is “squarely in our national interest,” Reeves said on Saturday as she announced agreements “worth £600 million to the U.K. economy over the next five years.”
Speaking during a visit to U.K. bicycle maker Brompton’s Beijing store, Reeves insisted she would not alter her economic plans.
“I have been really clear that our fiscal rules are non-negotiable, that we will pay for day-to-day spending through tax receipts and we will get debt down as a share of GDP,” she said. “Those fiscal rules that I set out in the budget in October are non-negotiable and we will take actions to ensure that we meet those fiscal rules.”
At a press conference with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, Reeves said: “I believe that increasing trade and investment with an economically important partner like China is crucial for achieving my number one mission in government – economic growth.”
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