UK Prime Minister Theresa May makes clear her intentions for a Britain-China free trade agreement, Reuters reports, ahead of her three-day series of talks with Chinese officials.
May has taken a team of 50 business leaders with her in a bid to strengthen trade between the two countries, where Britain will want to take advantage of China’s growing middle class and consumer market.
“China is a country that we want to do a trade deal with,” May said during her journey, “but I think that there is more we can be doing in the interim…in terms of looking at potential barriers to trade and the opening up of markets…”.
May is expected to make a strong case for British business, but also call the Chinese government out of controversial issues such as intellectual property rights and the party’s policy in Hong Kong.
The PM begins her visit in Wuhan where she will talk about deals pertaining to education and international study opportunities, before moving on to Beijing and Shanghai.