- British trade officials’ anxious moments unfounded as £500 million agreement signed
- Strong statement on Hong Kong protest by UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt fails to scupper talks
But as soon as Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor announced the suspension of the bill, Hunt issued another statement, this time “praising” the decision.
“Whitehall is so concerned about how the two events will affect each other. The foreign office didn’t want to understate the relevance of the Sino-British Joint Declaration, while the Exchequer wanted to make sure the deals would be signed,” a source with knowledge of the ongoing developments told the South China Morning Post.
Hong Kong has continued to be a subject of interest for foreign leaders following the suspension of the contentious bill that would allow anyone in Hong Kong suspected of mainly serious crimes to be sent to mainland China for trial.
but has been a largely untouched subject since Britain decided to leave the European Union a year later.
Under the scheme, Shanghai-listed companies can raise new funds via London’s stock market while British companies can broaden their investor base by selling existing shares in Shanghai.
Britain has hailed the deals with China as a diplomatic success amid the business uncertainties looming over Brexit, with Secretary for International Trade Liam Fox calling the creation of 175 new jobs in Britain “significant wins” for the British market.
Although Britain stopped short of endorsing China’s Belt and Road Initiative, the two countries concluded a memorandum of understanding on infrastructure cooperation in third countries, according to a statement by Britain’s Department of International Trade.
Britain also secured permission from China to export beef by the end of the year at the earliest, ending more than two decades of a Chinese government ban implemented in response to the BSE outbreak.
Source: SCMP
CHINDIA ALERT: You'll be living in their world, very soon 
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