I don’t think its crazy for her to go there, maybe the timing isn’t great but when is. The point is we have to have a relationship with China, we can’t just ignore it. Her going there is entirely defensible.
Professor Kerry Brown
13 January 2025
COMMENT: UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves' visit to China
UK Chancellor, Rachel Reeves arrived in China on Saturday to seek greater stability and economic cooperation with the world’s second largest economy. Academics from the Lau China Institute at King’s College London explain why they think the visit was necessary.
Speaking to CNBC, Astrid Nordin said Reeves did the right thing to go to China; “Reeves cannot not be engaging with China. There’s been a pause in dialogue between China and the UK over financial markets and capital markets that has now been resumed and I think that’s a necessary step”.
Kerry Brown, Director of the Lau China Institute, echoed this saying that Britain needs to have a relationship with China given the challenges facing Britain’s economy in an interview with Talk TV host, David Bull on Saturday.
Brown said that Britain would be looking for three things – investment, finance and technology and the UK government needed to be clear sighted about what the UK needs, what an equal deal would look like and what we don’t want.
Asked if we needed to be careful, Brown acknowledged the relationship with China has never been easy with issues such as Hong Kong, Xinjiang, Taiwan and Tibet but said this was part of a bigger picture; “Reeves has excellent officials around her who who do know China, she’s got a very good team in Beiijng at the Embassy so I think we can handle this as long as we don’t get overexcited or over anxious".
We have to go in knowing what we want, knowing what an equal deal looks like and knowing what we don’t want. As long as we are clear sighted about what we need, we can deal with this.
Professor Kerry Brown
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Director, Lau China Institute
Lau Chair of Chinese International Relations