China to snub London energy summit amid row over infrastructure projects

China is to snub a major UK summit on energy security next week, the Guardian has learned, amid a growing row over the country's involvement in UK infrastructure projects.

- Fiona Harvey

The US will send a senior White House official to the 60-country summit, to be co-hosted with the International Energy Agency. Leading oil and gas companies are also invited, along with big technology businesses and petrostates including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The absence of China - the world's biggest producer of clean energy technology, and biggest emitter of greenhouse gases - is a blow.

Tzeporah Berman, the founder of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, said: "There is no question that China not coming is a huge setback for global energy cooperation, at a critical moment in history.

"[Donald] Trump will send a Maga climate denier to try to distort the conversation and push for increased dependency on US oil and gas, rather than a shift towards cleaner energy systems. China is leading the world in renewables and electric cars and their refusal to come is a clear signal that they are not going to entertain the Trump administration's strong-arming to hold back progress."