Neal Kimberley

Macroscope | China’s Silk Road should consider Britain as its ultimate destination

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The early signs are that Britain will remain open-for-business with China while the EU may – without British input – become less outward-looking

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British and Chinese officials will meet in London in November at an event titled “The next economic and financial dialogue.” Liu Xiaoming, China’s Ambassador to the UK, regards Brexit positively arguing, “We should seize the opportunities when they come along.” Photo: AP

Neal Kimberley

Published: 9:45am, 1 Nov 2016Updated: 10:45pm, 1 Nov 2016

Britain has every opportunity to be at the European end of China’s new Silk Road even though the United Kingdom has elected to leave the European Union, the so-called Brexit.

The bottom line is that Britain will remain open-for-business with China while the EU may, without British input, become less outward-looking.

In the first instance, and although it will not be straightforward, Britain and the EU will ultimately agree the terms of a post-Brexit trade deal. It is in the interests of both sides to reach a deal for economic, geopolitical and even military reasons.

At the moment, while Britain remains a full and participating member of the European Union, its influence is still felt around the negotiating table.

Huawei, whose overseas expansion plans have met suspicion in places like Australia and the United States, has found a welcome in Britain and significantly announced £1.3 billion of new investments in late June after the Brexit referendum result was known. Photo: AP

For example, EU leaders agreed on 21 October to look again at how the European Union can defend itself against what it sees as unfair trade practises, the alleged dumping of Chinese steel on EU markets being a case in point.