As China and the United Kingdom resume their economic and financial dialogue after a five-year hiatus, banking giant Standard Chartered is poised to play a pivotal role in facilitating trade and investment flows between the two countries, as well as the global market, said Jose Vinals, group chairman of the British multinational bank.
The 11th edition of the dialogue, set to take place in Beijing on Saturday, will be co-chaired by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves. This will be the first meeting since 2018, underscoring the importance of restoring high-level discussions at a time of growing global economic uncertainty.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Friday, Vinals expressed optimism about the dialogue's potential to foster broader cooperation. He highlighted the alignment of interests between China and the UK in key areas such as trade, sustainability and combating climate change.
"I think that the fact that this economic and financial dialogue between China and the UK is happening after an interruption of five years is most important. China and the UK, and many other countries, have an interest in continuing to foster open cross-border trade and investment flows. You also have common interest in things like promoting the green and sustainability agenda at a time when the world is challenged by climate warming and things like that. So, these are areas of significant common interests, and where cooperation between China and the UK is critical, but also cooperation between China and many other economies in the world," he said.
As part of its strategy to support this agenda, Standard Chartered sees itself as a critical intermediary in strengthening economic ties between China and the UK. The bank is also expanding its role as a connector between China and global markets.
"Standard Chartered has a key role to play as a super connector between China and the UK, and between China and the rest of the world. We are connecting China to the rest of the world by helping Chinese companies, both financial institutions and corporates, do business outside of China. We are also helping Chinese individuals with wealth management and diversifying their wealth across different products, both onshore and offshore. But we're also helping bring the rest of the world to China in the sense of bringing Chinese opportunities to our international investors, and then helping multinational companies who want to do more business in China or set up shop in China, do business here," Vinals said.
Standard Chartered seeks to strengthen China-UK ties as economic dialogue resumes
