The chancellor’s trip to China on Friday comes as the newly installed Labour government seeks to renew Britain’s relationship with Beijing, ahead of a “China audit” due in the spring. Her visit, which will focus on financial services, follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s meeting with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 last November, the first time in six years that a British leader has met with the Chinese president.
Yet Trump’s imminent reentry into the White House could leave Britain in the middle of two behemoths if the incoming U.S. president makes good on his pledge to impose punitive trade tariffs on China. Soames, however, believes the U.K. should take advantage of this position.
The China-U.S. relationship is like “two 500 pound gorillas staring at each other,” Soames said, but the U.K. can “be a nimble, agile animal of a smaller size and maybe be part way between the two.”
The U.K. can profit from distinguishing itself from the EU and Washington as it establishes its ties with China, Soames, a City veteran who is also the grandson of Winston Churchill, added.
“We can’t keep on saying to China: ‘No, we don’t want to have a relationship.’ The good news is they appear to want to have a relationship with us. And we can row our own boat: We do not have to be tied into the EU’s relationship with China.”
The CBI head was also optimistic about the U.K. skirting the impact of any deepening trade conflicts: “For the first time since Brexit, the U.K. is finding itself in a position where it’s going to be doing more trade other than just clearing up the mess of Brexit.
