Watch again as Rachel Reeves attended economic talks in China on Saturday (11 January) as the chancellor pledged to make the UK “better off”.
Ms Reeves said she would be “candid” with the Asian giant on matters like democratic values, and that simply choosing not to engage with the world’s second-largest economy “is no choice at all”.
The chancellor said “pragmatic and predictable” relations with Beijing would help boost economic growth and trade amid a sharp rise in interest rates in the UK.
“The fiscal rules that I set out in my budget in October are non-negotiable, and growth is the number one mission of this government to make our country better off,” Ms Reeves told reporters in Beijing, according to Reuters.
The chancellor met her counterpart He Lifeng in Beijing on Saturday to discuss trade and investment as well as raise “difficult issues” including the country’s support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, according to the Treasury.
However, the trip has been overshadowed by concerns over increasing government borrowing costs as yields on UK bonds surged to the highest point since 2008.
