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Don’t want Britain to resent China’s success- FM
October 15, 2013, 8:26 am

[Getty Images]

The British finance minister is on a five-day trip to China in an attempt to attract investment to the UK [Getty Images]

British Finance Minister George Osborne said on Monday that no country in the west is as open to investment from China as the United Kingdom.

“One of my tasks this week is to explain to the British people just how far China has come, how sophisticated your businesses are, how advanced you are in the fields of high tech and science. And one of my principal goals this week is not just to increase British investment in China, but to increase Chinese investment in Britain.” said the British finance minister in Beijing.

Osborne is currently attending the fifth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue in the Chinese capital while on a five-day trip to the Asian nation in an attempt to attract investment to the UK.

“I don’t want Britain to resent China’s success, I want us to celebrate it. I don’t want us to try to resist your economic progress, I want Britain to share in it. Because more jobs and investment in China mean more jobs and investment in Britain,” said Osborne.

Britain currently ranks fourth among European countries in the list of top targets for Chinese investment.

The finance minister also announced the relaxation of visa regulations for Chinese visitors, including a super-priority visa for business leaders.

The BBC cites the number of Chinese tourists coming to the UK each year at 150,000.

According to a recent report by tourism provider Global Blue, Chinese tourists in London spent 31 per cent more in 2012 than in the previous year.

The report added that Chinese shoppers at Harrods, the world-famous London department store, are the “most significant and rapidly growing proportion” of the store’s overseas customer base.

David Willetts, UK Minister for Science and Universities, who is accompanying Osborne, has also announced £7 million for joint research and innovation funding with China.

According to a report in the London-based Financial Times on Saturday, Osborne will sign a memorandum of understanding with China during his trip to allow China’s largest nuclear power firm, Chinese General Nuclear Power Group (CGNPG) to operate a nuclear reactor in Britain.

The BRICS Post