UK Prime Minister: "We Do Not Intend to Fully Ban Chinese Investment"

High Trade Dependence on China... Reflecting Concerns over Economic Loss
"Will Be Cautious of China's Investment in Key Infrastructure Facilities"

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] Recently, concerns have arisen in British politics that Chinese investment in the UK could pose national security issues. However, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson stated that he has no intention of banning Chinese investment. Given the UK's high dependence on trade with China, this is seen as a practical move to 'appease China' in order to prevent economic losses from trade disputes with China.

On the 18th (local time), in an interview with Bloomberg News, Prime Minister Johnson said, "I am not a China hater. On the contrary, I am a person very far from hatred," and added, "Our government will not say that it will strike down all investments China makes in the UK in the future."

Previously, as China significantly increased its investment in the UK's nuclear power and semiconductor industries, concerns about technology leakage were raised within the UK.

In response, the UK government banned the participation of China's Huawei in its 5G mobile communication infrastructure projects and announced plans to exclude Chinese state-owned enterprises from all future domestic nuclear power projects.

Additionally, the UK Parliament proposed a bill allowing the government to intervene and preemptively block foreign capital acquisitions if national security concerns arise regarding foreign investments.

Although the UK is responding firmly to Chinese investment, there are also views that an exit strategy must be sought due to the high trade dependence on China.

According to Bloomberg News, from January to June this year, the UK's imports from China amounted to $92.8 billion (approximately 110 trillion won). In terms of import volume alone, China is the UK's third-largest trading partner.

The background behind Prime Minister Johnson's move to 'appease China' today is interpreted as reflecting this realistic issue.

He said, "China accounts for a large part of our (UK's) economy," and added, "(This situation) will continue for a very long time."

However, Johnson also emphasized that "this does not mean we will naively overlook important national infrastructure facilities," and that investments by China in sensitive industries will be closely scrutinized.

Johnson stated, "We have welcomed Chinese investment in non-strategic economic sectors," but did not specify which sectors are considered strategic.

He added, "The scale of trade with China has grown over a long period until now," and "I believe the scale of trade with China will continue to grow for a long time in the future."