British Foreign Secretary David Lammy will embark on a two-day visit to China, starting on Friday. CGTN Europe spoke to Jack Perry, chairman of The 48 Group Club, an organization that promotes trade between China and the UK.
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00:00Well, I think there's a public format that everyone will be able to see and I think that's important to be able to have that dialogue.
00:09But also in a closed room to be able to say, what are you not happy with from the past government in the UK?
00:15And how are we going to be different?
00:17I think this is a complete amazing opportunity to reset, because in China they look 30 years ahead,
00:24because the leadership doesn't change as often, they have that capability to do so.
00:29In the UK, we switch every four to five years.
00:32So it is almost a complete reset and saying, we weren't the people from the past, we're different.
00:38In what sectors do you anticipate the most immediate opportunities for the business community?
00:44Well, on a basic line, the relationship between China and the UK has not been good.
00:48It's not been the golden age or the era.
00:51So I think we need to step slowly and take those steps together, holding each other's hand in areas that we're both comfortable with.
00:58So I think if you look at green energy, green technology, hydrogen energy, which is a big focus for both of us,
01:06and advanced manufacturing, if you look at China at the moment, high productive forces, high quality development,
01:12those are the areas we can focus in.
01:14But we need to be clear what we're comfortable in doing with China.
01:19We can't go into areas that in two years' time we're going to stop that investment.
01:24So clarity is the most important thing here.
01:27The UK is looking for more investment.
01:30The country just held the International Investment Forum 2024, hoping to attract more investment to the UK.
01:37And China had very little presence at the event.
01:42Yeah. I mean, if you came to tea at my house and I wasn't very nice to you, would you come back?
01:48No. So let's be honest about it.
01:51We haven't been available with our manners that China will be wanting to come and sit there and have tea with us and have discussions.
02:02I mean, that's just simple. We need to show that we're willing to work with China.
02:06It's inevitable that things will go wrong.
02:09That's OK. Those things happen.
02:11But we need to be able to sit together and say we want to work with you.
02:16That's OK. But the action from that is highly important.
02:20And when Lamy comes back, it's what happens after that which everyone will be looking at.