British Prime Minister Theresa May brought along a 50-strong business delegation to China. Deals worth an estimated $12 billion are expected to be signed. As the terms of a Brexit remain uncertain, United Kingdom businesses are looking to tap into the Chinese market, more so than ever.
British Prime Minister Theresa May embarked on a trip to China on Wednesday with a 50-strong business delegation, featuring sectors ranging from health care to clean energy, in her bid to cement Britain-China ties.
The trip comes amid British negotiations about an exit from the European Union, and those are giving the country an even greater need to look east, some observers said.
"Without detracting at all from the ongoing importance of EU trade to the U.K., there is an undoubted need to put much more effort into trade with the 93 percent of the world that does not live in Europe," said Michael Sippitt, Chairman of Clarkslegal, a commercial law firm in the U.K.
"The geography is on China's side, the U.S. was always going to struggle with competing in Asia, so right now for the EU and the U.K. the center of world economic gravity is moving east and the best response of British businesses to Brexit is to move east as well."