UK Keeps 'Pragmatic' China Trade Stance as G20 Debates Global Imbalances
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds said Britain will cooperate with China where possible while favoring free trade over new barriers, even as the US pushes G20 countries to curb Chinese goods.
ASHEVILLE, North Carolina, Sept 1 (Reuters) - Britain will maintain a "pragmatic relationship" with China on trade while navigating the "sensitive" issue of how to reduce global imbalances, Chief Secretary to the UK Treasury Emma Reynolds said on Tuesday.
Reynolds told Reuters in an interview at the G20 finance leaders' meeting in North Carolina that Britain maintains an open trading relationship with friendly nations while imposing strong sanctions and embargoes on Iran, Russia and other states that have started wars or are seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
"We have a pragmatic relationship with China, one where we cooperate on things that we agree on, but also challenge in areas where we disagree," Reynolds said. "The whole issue of global imbalances is quite a sensitive one and a tricky one, but it's one that, we will we will navigate."
Asked if reducing global imbalances meant meeting U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's calls for G20 countries to consider more trade barriers to Chinese goods like the U.S. has done, Reynolds said Britain would generally seek to maintain open trade.
"As a general rule, we are a very open trading economy, and we believe, sort of as a general principle, that free trade is better than putting up barriers," she said.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Alistair Bell)
