UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves 10 Downing Street to attend the weekly Prime Minister's Questions session at Parliament in London, United Kingdom, on January 21, 2026. Photo: VCG

British companies see strong prospects for future activity with the China market, highlighting a score of cooperation sectors where businesses from two sides are highly complementary, Tom Simpson, managing director of China Operations and China chief representative of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC), told the Global Times in an exclusive interview on Wednesday.

China, the world's second largest economy, is a market into which British companies have been investing for many decades, with a large consumer base and significant growth potential, particularly in trade in services, said Simpson.

The remarks were made as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is paying an official visit to China from Wednesday to Saturday, marking the first by a British prime minister in eight years, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Commenting on expectations for the historic visit, Simpson described it as "a very significant milestone for the UK and China and a key step toward restoring full engagement between the two countries, while also adding momentum to the economic relationship."

This is not an isolated visit, but one that follows a series of high-level exchanges over the past 15 months, including visits by UK Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy in October 2024 and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves in January 2025. Peter Kyle, the UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, visited China in September 2025, during which he attended the first China-UK Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meeting since 2018 in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart.

Against all these backdrops, Simpson said there is already positive momentum in bilateral relations, and the prime minister's visit further builds on that momentum.

Speaking about expected outcomes from the visit, Simpson said he "hopes to see more market access agreements between the two governments, cooperation agreements, as well as business-to-business signings that reflect the wide range of ongoing UK-China economic activity."

On a further note, Simpson said that the UK is predominantly a services-driven economy, with services accounting for majority of economic output, noting that there remains substantial potential for growth in UK services exports to China, as well as deeper market penetration by UK services firms. Key areas include financial services, professional services, legal and accounting services, creative industries, and advertising.

In a separate statement that the CBBC shared with the Global Times on Wednesday regarding the visit, the council said that it believes "this visit will strengthen mutual understanding between our two countries and add momentum to bilateral business growth."

The prime minister will be accompanied by the Secretary of State for Business and Trade and a sizeable and diverse delegation of over 60 businesses and cultural organizations, according to the CBBC.

For our member organizations, including multinational firms, SMEs and leading education institutions, China is a crucial contributor to their global competitiveness, said the statement, noting that China is "a major consumer market, a key industrial and research partner, a vital source of students and talent, and an important two-way conduit for new technology and innovation." 

With recent Chinese policy directives focused on boosting domestic consumption and further opening the services sector to international businesses, the CBBC sees significant opportunities for growth for UK businesses.

Tom Simpson, managing director of China Operations and China chief representative of the China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) Photo: Courtesy of Tom Simpson

As this year marks the first year of China's 15th Five Year Plan (2026-30), which promotes new quality productive forces, Simpson said the UK businesses will see strong compatibility with China, particularly in trade and services, as China works to strengthen domestic consumption, especially demand for high end services where UK companies are well positioned.

"When you look at the long term outlook, there is generally a greater level of optimism. I think 2026 will be another step in that direction, with a big part of that being the recovery in the growth rate of domestic consumption, which we have already seen begin to rise," Simpson said.

In 2025, China-UK bilateral trade in goods reached $103.7 billion, while trade in services is expected to surpass $30 billion. The stock of two-way investment stood at nearly $68 billion, according to a spokesperson of China's Ministry of Commerce on Tuesday.

Amid intensifying global trade protectionism, both China and the UK remain committed to free trade and to upholding the multilateral trading system, said the spokesperson, noting that the two sides will work to leverage their complementary strengths and pursue mutually beneficial economic and trade cooperation, promote the coordinated development of goods and services trade, advance two-way investment, and continuously expand cooperation in areas such as green energy, healthcare, creative industries, and intelligent manufacturing.