Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will join Rachel Reeves on a visit to China next month aimed at strengthening financial services trade ties between the two countries.
Sky News has learned that Mr Bailey and Nikhil Rathi, chief executive of the Financial Conduct Authority, will both accompany the chancellor during the January trip.
Mr Bailey is expected to meet with Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People’s Bank of Chinaalthough there has been no confirmation of any meeting between them this weekend.
Attendance at Bank of England The governor and boss of the city regulator underlines the importance for the government of the summit, which will begin on January 11.
Earlier this month, Sky News revealed that the Treasury was close to finalizing details of the Chancellor’s trip, which will include the first UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue (UK-EFD). United and China) for more than five years.
The visit will take place a few days before that of Donald Trump second inauguration as President of the United States and in a context made more complex by the espionage conflict involving Prince Andrew.
At G20 summit in Brazil last month, Sir Keir Starmer met the Chinese president, Xi Jinpingand said the UK “would be a predictable and pragmatic partner”, according to a government account of the meeting.
A government spokesperson said this weekend: “The Chancellor will visit Beijing in the New Year to discuss economic and financial cooperation with his counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.
“Further details will be announced in the usual manner in due course and we will not comment on speculation until then.”
The UK-China EFD will be the first such gathering since June 2019, when Philip – now Lord – Hammond was chancellor.
Deteriorating political relations and the pandemic helped prevent new chapters of what was supposed to be an annual summit from taking place.
A bilateral meeting will take place in January amid questions over whether Britain plans to follow the European Union and the United States in impose customs duties on imports of electric vehicles from China.
Alongside the government-to-government talks, a private sector delegation is expected to hold a financial services summit, attended by companies including HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered.
Mark Tucker, chairman of HSBC, will lead negotiations with the private sector.
During the chancellery of George Osbornethe Cameron government has prioritized a “golden age” in UK-China relations, during which Beijing would allow tens of billions of pounds of investment in UK infrastructure projects.
The Conservatives, however, have been criticized for letting economic ties take precedence over concerns about China’s human rights record.
Speaking to Bloomberg two weeks after Labor’s general election victory, Ms Reeves said: “We are a small economy open to trade and we benefit from those trade links with countries around the world, both for exports and imports, but also for foreign direct investments.
“Our view is that where possible we trade, we cooperate and we contest in areas where it is important to contest, but we do not want to close the UK economy to imports and exports.
“We benefit from these trade links around the world, including with China. »
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The Bank of England and the FCA declined to comment.