China Reynolds to visit Beijing to revive high-level trade talks

The trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds will travel to Beijing to revive a key trade dialogue with China months after saying it had been "naive" to allow Chinese investment in sensitive sectors, the Guardian has learned.

- Eleni Courea

Reynolds is due to travel to China later this year for high-level talks intended to boost bilateral trade and investment with Beijing.

His trip is intended to restart the UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO), which has not taken place since 2018 when relations began deteriorating after Beijing's crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong. In documents published after Rachel Reeves' trip to China in January, the Treasury set out its intention to revive the talks.

The government is also planning to conclude its cross-Whitehall audit of UK-China relations by June, although the results of this will not be published in full.

The audit fulfils a Labour manifesto commitment and is expected to make a number of key policy recommendations, including a call for the government to improve its expertise on China. This could include Mandarin language programmes and various training for civil servants and members of parliament. The Foreign Office declined to comment.