MPs: UK China policy is reactive, inconsistent and opaque

Parliament's first official report on doing business with China says the government has not delivered the "strategic, long-term, consistent" approach it promised in 2024. The Commons Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee published the 102-page report on 2 November 2026. It says the government re-engaged with Beijing without finalising its China audit or publishing a strategy.

The audit was completed in June 2025. It has not been published.

The committee describes the government's record of China decisions as marked by "reactivity, inconsistency, and opacity." It cites two cases. Chinese firm Ming Yang's £1.5 billion wind turbine factory in Scotland was blocked at the 11th hour on unspecified national security grounds after years of negotiations. British Steel was taken over in an emergency from its Chinese owners.

The report concludes the UK risks having its China strategy dictated by Washington or Beijing. It says the approach "combined the worst of both worlds": it has not delivered commercial opportunities for British businesses, nor controlled what the committee calls "increasing exposure to unquantified, managed risk."

Committee chair Liam Byrne said the policy also endangers UK business with the EU, with the risk of being "cut off" from big manufacturing contracts.

He said the government is "allowing Beijing to dictate terms" and leaving Britain "weak and susceptible to Chinese control."

China policy sits at the intersection of economic growth and national security. If the government is re-engaging without published rules, businesses face uncertainty about what deals are permissible, while security risks go unmanaged. It says the approach is reactive, inconsistent and opaque, and that a promised strategy was never published.