On China visit, Britain’s May focused on post-Brexit future

by | Jan 31, 2018 | BRICS news, China News

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang walk together during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, and British Prime Minister Theresa May review a Chinese honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Attendants push coat racks before a welcome ceremony for British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, second from left, and British Prime Minister Theresa May review a Chinese honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, walks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang proceed to review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • Members of Chinese honor guard march line up in formation before a welcome ceremony for British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, right, gestures to British Prime Minister Theresa May during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang stand together during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Members of the Chinese honor guard march in formation past a curtain before a welcome ceremony for British Prime Minister Theresa May at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, and British Prime Minister Theresa May walk together during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May reviews a Chinese honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, walks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as they arrive for a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang walk together during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, center left, and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, center right, stand on the podium as they listen to the national anthems of their countries during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, second from left, review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, left, is shown the way by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang as they proceed to review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, left, review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. May arrived in China earlier in the day on a visit focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, second from left, review an honor guard during a welcome ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May, right, speaks as British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward listens during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May speaks during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

  • British Prime Minister Theresa May looks up before the start of a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

  • Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, third from left, speaks as British Prime Minister Theresa May, second from right, listens during a meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, Pool)

British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday called for expanding the “global strategic partnership” between the United Kingdom and China, at the start of a visit to the world’s second-largest economy focused on hashing out new trade arrangements once the U.K. leaves the European Union.

Meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, May referred to “a golden era” in relations between the two countries that London hopes will bring vast amounts of new job-creating investment from China’s fast-growing global firms.

“This is an auspicious time of the year to … think about and consider how we can build further on that golden era and on the global strategic partnership that we have been working on between the U.K. and China,” May said.

May first visited the central industrial city of Wuhan before traveling to Beijing for talks with Li and later with President Xi Jinping, whose 2015 state visit to Britain initiated what China frequently refers to as the golden era in ties.

May is being accompanied on her visit by 50 British business leaders, including the chief executives of Jaguar Land Rover and drug firm AstraZeneca. She will also visit the financial hub of Shanghai before heading home Friday.

In Li’s opening comments, he said he believed May’s visit would “bring new fruits, which will further elevate the golden era in China-Britain relations.”

Bolstering ties with China became more urgent after Britain voted in 2016 to leave the EU, compelling it to forge new trade agreements outside of the 28-nation bloc.

British exports to China are up 60 percent since 2010, and China is expected to be one of the U.K.’s biggest foreign investors by 2020.

British finance minister Philip Hammond visited in December, pledging to promote London as a center for transactions in China’s yuan currency and announcing up to 25 billion pounds ($35 billion) in support for British businesses involved in the “Belt and Road” initiative, China’s mega-plan for trade and infrastructure links across Asia.

But May appears more cautious about embracing Chinese investment than her predecessor David Cameron. She annoyed Beijing in 2016 by temporarily delaying approval for a Chinese-backed nuclear power plant in southwestern England. – AP