China Railway making significant inroads in United Kingdom ahead of HS2 bid

Seven HS2 contracts, worth a total of £11.8bn, cover bridges, tunnels and earthworks on the first phase of the controversial link between London, Birmingham and the north.

He is also due to talk about and a commitment to reinvigorate partnerships between Northern and Chinese cities, including Sheffield’s Sister City agreement with Chengdu, which has fostered significant business, civic and cultural links since 2010.

Tory MP Cheryl Gillan, who opposes the HS2 line, said Mr Osborne’s decision to start the bidding process was “premature”.

The Chancellor is hoping to confirm Chinese investment into a new power plant at Hinkley Point in England, and has pledged a £2 billion government guarantee in a bid to secure a deal.

“But it is also about making sure we are co-operating and learning from China’s urbanisation experience, including the progress China has made in supporting and co-ordinating regional development and promoting the development of city clusters”, O’Neill said.

The investment pitch comes a day after China’s Hualing Industry and Trade Group said it would inject an undisclosed sum to support major real estate projects together worth $1.8bn in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

During a visit by Prime Minister David Cameron in 2013, the paper snapped that Britain should recognise it was not a big power but “just an old European country apt for travel and study”.

A Government spokesman said: “We’ve made it a priority to engage with British firms to ensure they are well-placed to compete for the opportunities offered by HS2”.

In an editorial (in Chinese), the Global Times praised Mr Osborne’s “pragmatism regarding his China policy”, adding that “it should be diplomatic etiquette for foreign leaders not to confront China by raising the human rights issue“.

“This was meant to be a project that was going to not only build northern economies but also create jobs for British people”.

“If the contracts are going to the Chinese it makes a nonsense of that claim”.

“But it’s also crucial that we learn lessons and take advantage of worldwide expertise and efficiencies where they have a history of building high-speed rail”.

Richard Houghton, from the HS2 Action Alliance, which is opposed to the rail link, described Mr Osborne’s invitation to the Chinese as further evidence that the scheme was a “political project rather than a transport project”.

Russell Jackson, market director of emerging markets, transportation, at engineering consultancy Atkins, said the costs per kilometer of Chinese high-speed railways are very competitive when compared with the UK.

“High speed rail is new in the UK”. ChinaCache, as a representative of Chinese science and technology enterprises with branch offices in United Kingdom, was invited to attend the conference.