City minister Bim Afolami has warned that Britain cannot afford to give the ‘cold shoulder’ to China.
The comments made by the minister and MP for Hitchin and Harpenden came amid tensions between the West and Beijing.
Speaking at a finance industry, comments made by Afolami seemed to clash with the sentiments of both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and US President Joe Biden.
President Biden has just announced sweeping new trade tariffs on China and Sunak claimed earlier this year that China represents “the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”
Bim Afolami has said that Britain cannot afford to give the ‘cold shoulder’ to China
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Afolami said it was “crucial” to engage with rivals such as China and that hesitating to do so would mean “our competitors will write our future for us.”
He said: “You simply cannot give the cold shoulder to an economy that is home to a fifth of the world’s globally systemically important banks, four of the world’s largest banks, and almost a third of the world’s leading global financial centres.
“It is in our interests to engage where we can – profoundly so. It makes good economic sense.”
However, he added that London and Beijing “won’t always agree on everything.”
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City minister Bim Afolami said it was “crucial” to engage with rivals such as China
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Earlier this month, President Joe Biden took aim at China in the latest escalation of electric car tensions with a major announcement on EV imports.
The White House announced earlier today that the tariff rate on electric vehicles will increase from 25 per cent to 100 per cent this year.
Tariffs will also be hiked on lithium batteries (from 7.5 per cent to 25 per cent), semiconductors (from 25 per cent to 50 per cent), critical minerals (from zero to 25 per cent) and solar cells (from 25 per cent to 50 per cent).
A White House briefing stated that the Government is boosting the EV market with tax credits for manufacturers and drivers looking to switch away from petrol and diesel.
In March, Rishi Sunak told the Commons Liaison Committee: “I am entirely confident that our approach to dealing with the risk that China poses is very much in line with our allies and in most cases goes further in protecting ourselves.”
He added: “China represents the greatest state-based threat to our economic security.”