Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
BEIJING, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) — China has always opposed the practice of overly generalizing the concept of national security and politicizing trade and economic issues, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular ministry press conference on Thursday, warning that such actions by Britain would seriously undermine Chinese enterprises' confidence in its investment environment.
The Chinese diplomat made the statement while commenting, at a journalist's request, on reports that the UK is concerned about the intention of Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Mingyang Smart Energy Group Co., Ltd. to invest 1.5 billion pounds sterling in a project to build a factory in Scotland.
The Chinese government supports domestic enterprises in international cooperation based on mutual benefit, market principles, and compliance with laws and regulations. At the same time, the security of Chinese investments is also an important factor to consider, Guo Jiakun continued.
In recent years, he noted, it has often been observed that normal trade and economic projects in the UK have been influenced by general political and security factors. Since the National Security and Investment Act 2022 came into force, the British government has taken decisions on more than 10 cases involving Chinese companies, either prohibiting acquisitions or approving them with certain conditions.
The British government not only took control of the business activities of British Steel, which had been acquired by a Chinese private enterprise, on its own initiative, but also, after conducting a retrospective investigation, required Chinese enterprises to sell their already acquired shares in British semiconductor companies, undermining the investment security of Chinese enterprises under the pretext of so-called security considerations, Guo Jiakun noted.
“Unfortunately, some people in the UK continue to inflate the absurd theory of the ‘Chinese threat’,” the Chinese diplomat commented.
"If such practices continue, it will significantly impact Chinese businesses' assessment of the UK investment climate and will force them to exercise greater caution when making relevant decisions," he added. -0-
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