Theresa May has said the UK will be a global leader for free trade following the vote to leave the European Union, as she headed to Hangzhou in eastern China for the G20 summit yesterday.
May also declared it a “golden era” for UK-China relations despite the impending row with Beijing over the delayed decision on the Hinkley Point C power station, suggesting she wants to use her first major global summit to prove the UK remains dependable in the wake of the June referendum result.
Speaking at Heathrow before boarding an RAF plane, May said: “The message for the G20 is that Britain is open for business, as a bold, confident, outward-looking country we will be playing a key role on the world stage.”
The prime minister will have a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping tomorrow, following the conclusion of the two-day summit.“This is a golden era for UK-China relations and one of the things I will be doing at the G20 is obviously talking to President Xi about how we can develop the strategic partnership that we have between the UK and China,” May said.
“But I will also be talking to other world leaders about how we can develop free trade around the world, and Britain wants to seize those opportunities.
My ambition is that Britain will be a global leader in free trade.”
May is due to hold talks with leaders including Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi.
But despite a face-to-face with Xi, she is not expected to make an announcement on the Hinkley Point C project, which is backed by Beijing’s state-owned nuclear firm.
Although a decision on whether or not the project in Somerset will go ahead is expected this month, UK officials indicated it would not be announced tomorrow — fuelling speculation the plan would be scrapped or significantly altered.“We have set out the government’s approach to Hinkley.
We are currently considering all the component parts of that,” a UK source said.
“We have said we will make a decision this month — that remains the plan.
I don’t expect one in the next few days and I don’t expect our Chinese or French partners are expecting one in the next few days.”
The French energy giant, EDF, with support from China General Nuclear,
had expected to build the £18bn plant, but in a surprise move May’s administration delayed a final decision on the project amid reports of security concerns about Beijing’s involvement and the high cost of energy from the power station.
The UK’s former security minister Pauline Neville-Jones said yesterday that reassurances were needed from China before a decision could be made.“The issue, I think, is much more day-to-day security implications of having an investor of that kind who isn’t an ally — not an enemy — but isn’t an ally in the way most investment hitherto in to this country has been from the west,” she told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
Any final decision on Hinkley Point is expected to have major diplomatic implications for relations between the UK, France and China.
Meanwhile, May’s talks with Obama follow his warning that the UK would be at
“the back of the queue” for a trade deal if it voted to leave the EU.
But amid reports the planned US-EU trade deal has stalled, the UK hopes for talks on a transatlantic agreement of its own with Washington.
During today’s summit May is also reported to want to push for action on tackling terrorism, including stopping the flow of money and foreign fighters to extremist groups such as Islamic State.
She will press for action to make sure that Isis fighters are not able to find new safe havens in areas such as sub-Saharan Africa once they are forced out of strongholds.
Her government is still working on its vision for how Britain’s relationship with the EU should look post-Brexit.
Downing Street said after a meeting of ministers this week that it wants immigration controls while retaining strong trading ties.