China-UK cargo trade up to $79 billion in 2017: official

Cargo trade between China and the UK reached $79.03 billion in 2017, up 6.2 percent on a yearly basis, Minister Counselor Jin Xu of the Chinese Embassy in the UK said at a conference in London on Tuesday.

In the past year, economic and trade cooperation between the two countries was promoted to a new level, Jin was quoted as saying in a report by the Xinhua News Agency.

China’s exports to the UK increased 1.8 percent year-on-year to $56.7 billion last year, while imports soared 19.4 percent to $22.3 billion.

The UK has become the secondlargest source of investment in China from within the EU, with the country’s investment in China totaling $1.5 billion in 2017, Jin said. Meanwhile, China’s non-financial direct investment into the UK was as much as $1.53 billion last year.

In December 2017, the Ninth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in Beijing, reaching 72 cooperation achievements.

Cooperation on the Belt and Road initiative between the two sides was also pushed ahead in an all-round way, represented by the start of construction at Hinkley Point C nuclear power station project, the linking of Sino-European freight trains and the launch of the China-Britain Innovation Industry Park in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province.

At the conference, Jin also mentioned that the China-Britain Business Council is organizing for UK firms to attend the first China International Import Expo in November.

Despite concern that Brexit may create uncertainties for China-UK economic and trade cooperation, the solid foundations supporting the cooperation haven’t changed, he said.