Question to the Department for International Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what plans he has to increase trade between the UK and China.

The Government works actively to increase trade between the UK and China, including through our overseas network led by HM Trade Commissioner for China, bilateral working groups, and through the broad support the Department for International Trade provides to UK exporters and to Chinese companies wishing to invest in the UK. Ministerial travel also supports this, and provides the necessary platform to progress market access for British goods and services. The Secretary of State travelled to China five times last year. He secured market access for UK dairy, worth £240m over 5 years, at the Department for International Trade-led Joint Economic and Trade Commission, and led the UK delegation to China’s inaugural International Import Expo in November, where the UK secured over £2bn worth of deals. The Government is also conducting a Joint Trade and Investment Review with China, an analytical exercise to explore all options to increase flows of goods, services and investment.