British role sought in China’s new Silk Road

PHILIP HAMMOND will head to China this weekend alongside top policymakers and businesses to fly the flag for Britain and lay the groundwork for post-brexit trade deals.

The Chancellor will attend the twoday “One Belt, One Road” forum in Beijing starting tomorrow, which will showcase China’s President Xi Jinping’s initiative to forge new trade networks between Europe and Asia.

Mr Hammond will be joined by representatives from the City of London, including officials at HSBC, Standard Chartered, law firm Linklaters and consultancy giant KPMG, as well as 28 heads of state from around the world.

The Chancellor, who is attending the summit in place of Theresa May, the Prime Minister, is due to attend a series of multilateral meetings and will fly to Beijing after a G7 summit in Bari, Italy.

Sherry Madera, the City of London’s special adviser for Asia, said the forum would provide an opportunity for policymakers to set the agenda for an initiative for a 21st-century Silk Road launched four years ago by the world’s second-largest economy.

Ms Madera said London could pay a key role in financing the initiative, which involves 65 countries representing 29pc of global gross domestic product (GDP) and 64pc of the population.

“It’s an ambitious project, but the UK is the world’s financial centre, a global centre which is number one in foreign exchange. So it makes sense for London to play an important role,” she said.

The former Department for International Trade official said London’s unique ecosystem put it in prime position to become a hub for infrastructure financing.

“We’ve always been a global financial centre. Banks and investors from the US, Middle East and Asia are all within easy walking distance, and that is the ecosystem that is London. That’s what makes it by far the most global financial centre, far and away beyond the likes of Hong Kong or New York.”

Despite uncertainties over Britain’s trading relations with the EU, Ms Madera said Asian investors were seeking long-term ties.

“What’s become really clear to me is the UK is talking about Brexit, and Asia is talking about business. That’s the piece that we really need to make sure that we’re bridging,” she said.