ZURICH, November 02 (AJP) - Britain is handling its relationship with China without a coherent plan, a committee of British lawmakers warned on Monday, leaving businesses in the dark and the country exposed to economic and security risks as it tries to balance ties with Beijing, Washington and Europe.
The criticism carries particular weight because it comes from within the ruling party’s own ranks. The committee is chaired by Liam Byrne, a lawmaker from Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s Labour Party, and its members come from across the political spectrum. The government rejected the findings.
Byrne said the government was “making up its China policy as it goes along.” He warned that unless Britain defines its own approach, its relationship with China risks being shaped in Washington or Beijing instead.
A promise not kept
The report is Parliament’s first official assessment of how Britain does business with China, the world’s second-largest economy.
When Labour took power in 2024, it promised a “strategic, long-term, consistent” approach to China. According to the 102-page report, published by the House of Commons committee that oversees business, science and trade, that promise has not been kept. The government has moved to rebuild ties with Beijing without publishing a strategy. A government review of UK-China relations, completed in June 2025, has never been released.
The committee pointed to two examples. In one, the government spent years in talks with Chinese company Ming Yang over a planned 1.5 billion pound wind turbine factory, only to block the project at the last minute on unspecified national security grounds. In the other, it seized emergency control of British Steel from its Chinese owners.
Without clear rules, the committee warned, British companies cannot plan how to do business with China.
Rules of the road
The committee did not call for a break with China, which it described as neither realistic nor desirable. Trade between the two countries is worth about 140 billion pounds a year, around 7 percent of Britain’s total trade.
Instead, it proposed sorting the economy into zones. “Red zones” would cover sensitive sectors closed to Chinese investment. “Green zones” would cover areas where trade should be encouraged. A middle group would be open to Chinese involvement under safeguards.
The report also called for tighter protection of sensitive data and technology, more secure supply chains and a ban on imports made with forced labor. It urged the government to prepare tariffs that could be used if China continues to subsidize its industries unfairly or refuses to open its own market on equal terms.
Electric vehicles drew special attention. The committee warned that cheap Chinese cars, which can be controlled remotely through software, could pose a risk to life, and recommended preparing possible tariffs on them. Downing Street has not ruled this out.
Squeezed between partners
Behind the report lies a broader dilemma for Britain. Since leaving the European Union in 2020, it has had to set its own trade policy, while staying close to the United States on security.
Byrne argued that Europe is now toughening its stance on Beijing even as it grows warier of Washington. He said Britain should be ready to match the EU’s approach, including on electric vehicle tariffs, so British companies are not shut out of European manufacturing contracts.
Government pushes back
The government dismissed the committee’s conclusions. “Our approach to China is consistent – we will co-operate where we can and challenge where we must,” a government spokesman said.
For Britain, the question the report raises is whether it can keep engaging with China without first deciding where the limits of that engagement lie.
AJP Takeaways
- A British parliamentary committee said the UK government has failed to deliver the clear China strategy it promised in 2024.
- The committee proposed closing sensitive sectors of the British economy to Chinese investment and preparing possible tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.
- The UK government rejected the report, saying its policy of cooperating with China where possible and challenging it where necessary is consistent.
- Tags: United Kingdom, China, Liam Byrne, Andy Burnham, Labour Party, House of Commons, Ming Yang, British Steel, electric vehicles, European Union, foreign investment
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