Opinion | Beijing, London to boost ties through improved annual economic dialogue

By Augustus K. Yeung

Introduction

As the year is coming to an end, and the new year promises a better or brighter prospect for Sino-British relations, the two nations' contact in general and trading talks in particular, there are signs that bilateral relations are warming up.

China and Britain have agreed to resume an annual bilateral economic engagement mechanism that has been suspended for two years despite continuing political tensions.

Beijing and London agreed to hold the 11th China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue next year during a call between Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on Tuesday, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Details of the call were issued by China's Ministry of Finance yesterday having initially been released via the central government's website.

China-Britain Formal Contact is Alive and Well

"[We] expect the two countries will meet each other halfway, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade, investment, finance and other areas, and continuously broaden and deepen China-Britain practical cooperation," said Hu, head of the Chinese delegation to the dialogue.

Sunak, who leads the British delegation, said Britain attached great importance to relations with China and that it stood ready to deepen bilateral economic and financial cooperation, strengthen cooperation in climate change, green finance, economy, trade and investment and push for new progress in bilateral relations.

The previous gathering of the formal trade discussion platform took place in June 2019 in London, but the vice prime minister-level communication mechanism as well as the China-UK Joint Trade and Economic Commission were suspended reportedly by Britain in response to "China's alleged repression of civil rights in Hong Kong".

The Power of Chief-of-State Diplomacy

The news of resumption of the mechanism, which started in 2008, follows a call between President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the end of October.

With next year marking the 50th anniversary of establishing ambassadorial-level diplomatic ties between China and Britain, Xi said it represented an opportunity for the two sides to deal with their challenges and work together to achieve steady and sustained progress of bilateral relations.

China said it would welcome Britain to export more high-quality products and expand cooperation in health care, green development, digital economy, finance and innovation.

While hoping that Britain could provide Chinese enterprises with fair and non-discriminatory treatment, China said it would also facilitate British enterprises' cooperation in China, Xi said.

Johnson said Britain was willing to deepen economic, trade, education and clean energy cooperation with China.

He also said Britain welcomed Chinese enterprises to invest and cooperate in Britain, and that it was willing to provide an open business environment.

Britain was also willing to work with China to ensure the greater development of bilateral relations, Johnson said.

He had already signaled intentions to resume the bilateral formal trade mechanism in February when he stated he was "fervently Sinophile" and determined to improve ties "whatever the occasional political difficulties".

Tensions Amid Resumption of Talks and Trades

Despite willingness from both sides to improve ties, tensions between the countries have continued to escalate.

Britain said on Wednesday that it would join the United States, Canada and Australia in a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing next year.

Britain also signed up for the trilateral security pact, the so-called AUKUS deal, with Australia and the US.

The Concerns of British Chamber of Commerce

Also on Tuesday, the British Chamber of Commerce in China called on Beijing to engage in more reform and cultivate a predictable business environment in its annual sentiment survey.

The chamber revealed a large proportion of British companies have yet to return to pre-coronavirus pandemic levels of revenue. Chamber chair Julian Mac Cormac expressed concern that Beijing's border lockdown and zero-COVID strategy had precipitated an outflow of foreign talent. He called for a resumption of direct flights between the two countries.

Before this week's meeting, Hu and Vice-Premier Liu He met Ben Keswick, head of Jardine Matheson in Beijing last month.

China's imports from Britain rose by 73.6 per cent from a year earlier in November to US$2.8 billion, while exports rose by 2.5 per cent to US$7.9 billion, according to the Chinese customs data released on Tuesday. ("Beijing, London to resume annual economic dialogue." South China Morning Post. Saturday, December 11, 2021.)

Conclusion

It is certainly good news that China and Britain are resuming their talks and jump-starting their bilateral activities. It is good news that there is a built-in mechanism between the two nations.

But, this article clearly shows that in "democratic" countries, voters' likes and dislikes are a magic wand to which the politicians and even leaders of nations must follow the "tyranny of the majority": For example, the mechanism which started in 2008 was "suspended" in 2019 reportedly by Britain in response to "China's alleged repression of civil right in Hong Kong", which was based on false information. Any well-informed Hong Kong citizen can tell the real story.

Another lesson that we can learn from this article is the fact that business people such as the British Chamber of Commerce are reliable, accurate and well-informed in assessing political situations. And so did the American Chamber of Commerce, which was informed and encouraged by the US government to leave the city after more than a year of rioting by the Pan-democrats, but refused to budge.

Finally, the power and influence of head-of-state diplomacy is another asset any country must treasure. In this case, it was President Xi Jinping of China who initiated the resumption of the mechanism, enabling the two countries to boost ties through improved dialogue.

 

The author is a freelance writer; formerly Adjunct Lecturer, taught MBA Philosophy of Management, and International Strategy, and online columnist of 3-D Corner (HKU SPACE), University of Hong Kong.

The views do not necessarily reflect those of DotDotNews.

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