David Cameron calls for China investment in UK’s HS2
By Kiran Stacey in Beijing FT UK
David Cameron has opened the door to Chinese investment in the High Speed 2 rail line from London to the north.
Premier Li said: “The two sides have agreed to push for a breakthrough and progress in co-operation in the areas of nuclear power and high speed railway.” He added that Mr Cameron’s trade trip, the largest business delegation the UK has led to the country, would “push the UK-China relationship into a new stage”.
“Just like the high-speed trains,” he said, “we need to grow this relationship at a higher speed.”
It builds on the message from the prime minister, who last week told an audience at the V&A Museum: “I’m very interested in what’s happening in terms of high-speed rail in China . . . In terms of HS2, I very much welcome Chinese investment into British infrastructure.”
Mr Cameron will spend his first day of a three-day trip to China in meetings with the three most senior members of the Chinese government: Mr Li, Zhang Dejiang, the chairman of the standing committee of China’s National People Congress, the largely ceremonial parliament, and Xi Jinping, the president.
The visit is his first to China since November 2010, and the first since the current regime took over in November 2012. British ministers had until recently been refused meetings with their Chinese counterparts after the prime minister met the Dalai Lama in London in May 2012.
Mr Cameron has made trade the focus of his trip, despite concerns over human rights violations in China. He said the British government wanted to support “the judicial protection of human rights”, but made it clear that discussions between the two countries over the issue would be held separately next year.
The form of any Chinese investment in HS2 is as yet unclear, but British officials stressed there would be no direct investment in the construction phase of the line, which is due to be funded by the taxpayer. This leaves open the possibility of the Chinese bidding for the concession to run HS2 or investing in peripheral schemes around the route such as developments around stations when the route opens in the 2030s.
The move could prove controversial, deepening Chinese ownership of British infrastructure projects. The UK’s first nuclear power station to be built in a generation was agreed to last month, with the backing of EDF, the French energy company, and various Chinese investors.
Mr Cameron insisted that his government should not be embarrassed about its increasing reliance on Chinese capital. Speaking to journalists, the prime minister said: “I’m not embarrassed that China is investing in British nuclear power, or has shares in Heathrow airport, or Thames Water, or Manchester airport. I think it’s a positive sign of economic strength that we are open and welcome to Chinese investment. That gives, if you like, the British government more firepower to use the capital investment we have for more roads and railways and other things.”
The prime minister also repeated his call for an EU-China trade deal, which he said would boost European businesses and encourage China to liberalise its economy. Mr Cameron has positioned Britain as the greatest champion of such a deal, to the delight of his Chinese hosts, despite European concern that it could lead to domestic manufacturers being undermined by cheap Chinese imports.
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