BP Plc is to sign a $20billion deal to supply liquefied natural gas to China National Offshore Oil Corp., one of a number of deals announced as Chinese Premier Li Keqiang began a visit to the UK.
China Minsheng Investment Corp., the country’s largest private-sector investment group, will invest $1.5billion into industries including financial services, offshore engineering, new energy and environmental protection, and open its European headquarters in London, Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said in a statement.
Deals totaling $30billion will be announced in the next two days, according to China’s embassy in the UK, as Li’s visit confirms the end of a three-year diplomatic freeze caused by arguments over human rights and Tibet. The UK is also aiming to begin talks on ending a 30-year-old Chinese ban on British beef and lamb exports. Li and Cameron are scheduled to give a news briefing at 3.45pm in London.
“Before I came here, we used to say when we talk about Europe: Britain, France and Germany,” Liu Xiaoming, the Chinese ambassador in London, told reporters on June 13. “But unfortunately many opportunities were missed in the past year or so — and we all know the reason behind it — so people now start talking about Germany, France and Britain.” He said he wants to “set this order to its original setting”.
For its part, Britain said last night it will make it easier for Chinese visitors to apply for visas. Home Secretary Theresa May announced easier forms for visa applicants from China and an agreement to allow travelers from China or India to come to the UK on an Irish visa.
Improving the visa system was on a list of requests from the ambassador. While Chinese travelers can visit most European Union countries on a single visa, they need a separate one to enter the UK.
“I receive complaints from businesses based here,” Liu said. “They have difficulties to rotate their senior executives because of visa restrictions. So that made their operations more difficult than they are in other European countries. Visa issues really erode British strength in terms of attracting more foreign businesses.”
Liu, who also said China wanted the UK to build a third runway at London’s Heathrow airport, held out the visit as an opportunity to reset relations between the two countries.
Li, who arrived in London late yesterday, will meet Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle today before traveling to London to meet Cameron at his Downing Street residence for a lunch attended by senior UK ministers and business leaders from both countries. Li will be joined by more than 200 Chinese business leaders, including the chairmen of most of the country’s biggest banks.
Nord Engine, a Chinese financial-services group, will announce £150million ($250million) of funding to invest in small and medium-sized British and European companies. The investment is among at least $30billion of deals in industries including energy and finance that Liu said will be signed during the visit.
In an article for the Times newspaper yesterday, Li said he wanted to change “misperceptions and misgivings” about his country.
Cameron visited China in December for the first time in three years, and was greeted with an editorial in the state-run Global Times newspaper stating that Britain “is just an old European country apt for travel and study.” In 2012, he was told he had “seriously damaged” relations by meeting the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama.
Liu attacked the UK government for “so-called human- rights reports” that have criticized China. “We think these reports are biased against China,” he said. “The British have some complaints about human rights in China. We also have some complaints about human rights here.” He declined to elaborate.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said yesterday he had “no regrets” about a meeting he had with the Dalai Lama. “Of course we can’t ignore the large-scale and systematic human- rights abuses that still continue in China to this day,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean we can’t have very productive discussions with the Chinese leadership.”
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