PM raises human rights with China

Mr Cameron says trade with countries like China lies at the heart of foreign policy.

Prime Minister David Cameron is due to arrive in China as part of Britain’s largest-ever delegation to the country.

He will join about 50 top business leaders on a trip he has described as a “vitally important trade mission”.

It is Mr Cameron’s first official visit to the world’s second largest economy, where he is also expected to raise concerns over its human rights record.

Promising “closer engagement” with China, he has said “banging the drum for trade” is key to UK foreign policy.

“Our message is simple: Britain is now open for business, has a very business-friendly government, and wants to have a much, much stronger relationship with China,” he said.

Among those taking part in the visit are executives from companies including Rolls-Royce, Barclays and Diageo and some deals have already been announced.

Business secretary Vince Cable, who is already in Beijing, earlier signed an agreement that will allow the export of British breeding pigs to China, home to half of the world’s pig population.

That deal – and future business stemming from the agreement – is valued at about £45m to the British pig industry over the next five years.

Vince Cable told the BBC’s Robert Peston he will be working toward productive trade deals

The Chinese and British authorities also reached a deal to ensure only whisky produced in Scotland will be marketed in China as Scotch, a move some estimate will increase sales by tens of millions of pounds.

Some of the other deals include:

three multi-million pound contracts with a fee value of more than £4m for London-based architects and designers Benoyan agreement between Clyde Blowers and Yima Coal Industry Group to supply coal injection technology for three gasifiers – a deal worth £2mmachine maker Group Rhodes is signing a contract with Xinhang, a second-tier supplier to the Chinese aerospace industry, worth £1,850,000.

More deals are set to be unveiled at a ceremony on Tuesday, following talks between Mr Cameron and Chinese Premier, Wen Jiabao.

Earlier, Chancellor George Osborne, who is also in China, told the BBC the visit was the “largest and most high-powered” visit to the country from a UK delegation.

Mr Osborne said that this was not a new chapter in British relations with China.

But he added the country had reached a stage in its development where it was “more likely to want the things which Britain is good at”.

These included financial services, insurance and luxury goods, he added.

Currently, exports to China, although growing fast, are relatively small compared with other markets. For example, the UK exports twice as much to the Irish Republic than to China.

The visit is the prime minister’s second major trip to an emerging economy since taking power.

It follows a high-profile visit to India in July.

And as well as trying to boost business, Mr Cameron will also raise the issue of China’s human rights record.

Mr Cameron’s office said he would challenge China on its human rights record, but was not specific about which subjects he would raise.

Mr Osborne said that discussions about human rights had been going on for many years but added it was “not the only thing we talk to the Chinese about”.

“Our economic relationship is an incredibly important and strong one,” he said.

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