China (Hansard, 1 March 1995)

§ 20. Mr. Key
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when he next plans to visit Beijing to discuss Anglo-Chinese relations.

§ Mr. Goodlad
My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State has no plans at present to visit China.

§ Mr. Key
When my right hon. Friend meets the Chinese ambassador later today, will he tell him that there is growing interest in this country in trade relations with China, and that we should move as quickly as possible to reduce and remove cultural, industrial and economic barriers to such trade?

§ Mr. Goodlad
Yes, I shall say that. As my hon. Friend will know, we have experienced an enormous increase in our trade with China. We are the largest European investor in China; we have more than 600 joint ventures there. The trade delegation in September was the largest ever. My right hon. Friend the President of the Board of Trade will go to China in May.

§ Mr. Flynn
Will the Minister promise that, when he makes his efforts to improve cultural and commercial relationships, he will not confine them to Anglo-Chinese 1043 relationships but will extend them to Britannic-Chinese relationships? Many people who have great interest in the burgeoning economy and culture of China regard themselves not as English but as Irish, Scottish or. on this day of all others, Welsh.

§ Mr. Goodlad
I am delighted that the Scottish economy, the Northern Irish economy and indeed the Welsh economy have benefited from the great increase in British-Chinese trade. As someone who is not English either, I rejoice at those benefits and hope that they will continue.

§ Mr. Forman
Can my right hon. Friend tell the House whether any good came of the recent visit to China by the Archbishop of Canterbury?

§ Mr. Goodlad
I very much hope that the mission to China by His Grace will increase tolerance for Christians in China and will have an overall beneficial effect on relations. [Interruption.] His Grace has indeed been there, and I hope that his visit will have had a beneficial effect on the lives of Christians in China.