Britain’s May hopes to assure Chinese over nuclear plant

LONDON, Sept 3 British Prime Minister Theresa May said Sino-British relations were in a “golden era”, as she left on Saturday for the G-20 meeting in China next week.

She said: ‘The message for the G20 is that Britain is open for business, as a bold, confident, outward-looking country we will be playing a key role on the world stage’.

She will use the meeting to try to persuade worldwide partners that post-Brexit Britain will remain “open for business” and a champion of global free trade, the official said, in a bid to allay concerns of a more isolationist outlook.

But Ms May did not hesitate to use the words as she travelled to her first major worldwide summit – where she will do her best to convince other world leaders of the merits of Brexit.

The former British Prime Minister David Cameron first used the “golden era” to describe the vibrant China-Britain relations.

“I’m not sure that, when you look around the world and all the UK’s partners, that we are defined by one energy project”, the source said.

May’s appearance in China comes at a time when the country is awaiting news from the United Kingdom government on the Hinkley Point nuclear power station.

On Sunday, the CEO of EDF’s British unit, Vincent de Rivaz said some critics risk losing sight of the bigger picture by overlooking the positive impact and importance of this investment for Britain.

“But I’ll be talking to other world leaders about the opportunities for trade around the globe that will open up for Britain following Brexit”.

“I am determined to make the most of the opportunities Brexit presents – delivering the change that people want and striking the right deal for British businesses at home and overseas”.

The PM hopes to use the summit, where she will have discussions with world leaders including US President Barack Obama, to show the United Kingdom remains a “dependable” diplomatic and trading partner after the vote to leave the European Union.

A decision is expected in the autumn following speculation the prime minister is concerned about the involvement of Chinese state-owned CGN in the project and any further agreement for China to build reactors in Bradwell, Essex.

Mrs May will have a meeting with president Xi on Monday, after the conclusion of the two-day G20 summit of leaders of the world’s richest nations in Hangzhou.

She will also have a meeting with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi, with the trading relationship expected to dominate the agenda.

But amid reports the planned US-EU trade deal has stalled, the United Kingdom hopes for talks on a transatlantic agreement of its own with Washington.

Mrs May is determined the United Kingdom will have a “smooth and orderly departure from the European Union and stronger trading relations in the future”. The Chinese National Energy Administration said on its website that Neville-Rolfe met one of its top officials in Beijing to discuss Hinkley Point.