UK firms sign US$1.5bn in deals

Chinese and UK companies signed contracts worth a total of US$1.5 billion during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to the UK. The majority of the deals involved China's energy sector. Contracts signed by British Petroleum (BP) totaled more than US$1 billion, including gas station joint ventures with PetroChina and Sinopec in Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces, respectively. BP also inked a contract with Sinopec for cooperation on an acetic acid plant in Nanjing, Jiangsu province. Shell signed a gas station joint venture with Sinopec that will operate in Jiangsu province.