CGTN Europe interviewed Lord Stephen Keith Green, Current member of the House of Lords and Former UK Minister of State for Trade and Investment
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00:00Stephen Green is a member of the UK's House of Lords and the former group chairman of HSBC.
00:06It's the first time a senior government minister, apart from a foreign secretary, has been to China for some time.
00:14It represents the end of what I think must have looked like a hiatus in terms of the relationship.
00:22And of course to have the Chancellor of the Exchequer go there relatively soon after delivering a British budget
00:28is I think of profound importance.
00:31This is of course a new government.
00:34The new government shows every sign of wanting a pragmatic and developing relationship with China.
00:41So I think this is of significance of a very high order.
00:46The so-called golden age of UK-China relations, once heralded by UK Prime Minister David Cameron,
00:53was of course brought to a close by UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak back in 2022.
01:00Where is this UK-China relationship now, would you say?
01:05Well I'm not sure I think that labels are terribly helpful.
01:08So calling this a renewal of a golden era I think is not quite the point.
01:12The point is I think that both sides recognise the need for a pragmatic relationship
01:17in the context of a complicated geopolitical scene globally.
01:22We are two weeks away or so from a new American administration that's going to affect all of us.
01:29This is a complicated world and the relationship between Britain and China is a complicated one.
01:36There's history of course that we all have to recognise.
01:39But looking at now and going forwards, the important point is that these are both countries
01:45with important interests on the world stage and with a real need to benefit from the trade
01:51and investment opportunities that flow from a good commercial relationship.
01:55So what would a successful visit to China look like for UK Finance Minister Rachel Reeves?
02:03I think what she will be looking for and I think we should all be hoping for
02:09is a path in the coming years of a continuing enriched and developing trade relationship,
02:17investment flows that make sense for both countries in both directions.
02:22Because these are the kinds of things that unlock what both countries need,
02:26continuing economic development, very different of course in all sorts of ways,
02:30but both countries need continued economic development, economic growth.
02:35The British government is very focused on the need to grow productivity in this country to meet its challenges.
02:41One of the ways that productivity comes is through better and better trading.
02:46As you alluded to, there's going to be a new US president of course
02:49which will present many countries with geopolitical challenges.
02:53Can the UK take advantage of that in its relationship with China?
02:59It depends what the Americans do of course.
03:02But if the new administration were to bring in some of the levels of tariff that President Trump has talked about,
03:11then I think the advantage potentially for Britain is to remain more open to trade,
03:18more open to international engagement, not to be drawing up the drawbridges,
03:24to on the contrary be engaging as widely as possible in the world at large.
03:29In a sense, if it were to be the case, and we will see that America pulls up its drawbridges,
03:35well all the more reason for us to remain open.