Next month, Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey will be joining Rachel Reeves on a trip to China to strengthen financial services trade ties between the two countries.
Sky News has learned that both Mr. Bailey and Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, will be accompanying the chancellor on this January trip.
Mr. Bailey is expected to hold discussions with Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of China, although there has been no confirmation of any meeting between them this weekend.
The presence of the Bank of England governor and the City regulator’s boss emphasizes the importance of the summit, which is set to begin on 11 January, for the government.
Earlier this month, Sky News reported that the Treasury was finalizing details for the chancellor’s trip, which will include the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (UK-China EFD) in over five years.
The visit will take place shortly before Donald Trump’s second inauguration as US President and amidst a backdrop complicated by the spying row involving Prince Andrew.
At the G20 summit in Brazil last month, Sir Keir Starmer met China’s president, Xi Jinping, and assured the UK’s commitment to being a dependable and sensible partner, according to a government briefing of the meeting.
A government spokesperson stated this weekend: “The chancellor will be visiting Beijing in the new year to discuss economic and financial collaboration with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.
“Further details will be announced in due course, and we will not comment on speculation before then.”
The UK-China EFD will be the first meeting of this kind since June 2019, when Philip (now Lord) Hammond was chancellor.
Due to worsening political relations and the pandemic, subsequent annual summits have not been able to take place since then.
A bilateral meeting in January will occur while there are questions about whether Britain will follow the European Union and US in imposing tariffs on electric vehicle imports from China.
In addition to government talks, a private sector delegation is set to hold a financial services summit with companies like HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered in attendance.
HSBC chairman Mark Tucker will lead the private sector discussions.
During George Osborne’s time as chancellor, the Cameron government prioritized a “golden era” of UK-China relations, including significant Chinese investment in British infrastructure projects.
However, the Conservatives faced criticism for prioritizing economic ties over concerns regarding China’s human rights record.
In an interview with Bloomberg two weeks after Labour’s general election victory, Ms. Reeves stated: “We are a small open trading economy and we benefit from those trade links with countries around the world, both for exports and imports, but also for foreign direct investment.
“Our view is that where possible we trade, we cooperate, and we challenge in areas where it’s important to challenge, but we don’t want to close the UK economy down to imports and exports.
“We benefit from those trade links around the world, including with China.”
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The Bank of England and FCA declined to comment.