British lenders, including HSBC and Standard Chartered, are reportedly pushing the UK government to ease restrictions on doing business with China.
UK companies, including HSBC, Standard Chartered and Prudential in the financial sector, are lobbying against the Rishi Sunak government's proposed restrictions on doing business with China, according to a «Bloomberg» report citing unnamed sources. They specifically hope to exclude China from the strictest risk category in the UK’s new national security legislation.
If included, the firms could be required to declare a range of activities with any entity considered to be controlled by the Chinese state. This is expected to impede business and trigger negative publicity.
UK-China Relations
Relations between UK and China have been under pressure in recent years over various issues. This includes China’s controversial approach to governing Hong Kong as well as mutual allegations of spying.
According to the report, lobbyists are unlikely to have all of their requests fulfilled. UK is also home to 32,000 Chinese companies which could be affected by the new legislation.
