Visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addresses the China-UK Business Forum at the headquarters of the Bank of China in Beijing, on January 30, 2026. Photo: Chi Jingyi/GT

UK businesses are actively discussing new investment opportunities in China, as British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is paying a visit. Several cooperation agreements have already been reached or in talk, the Global Times learned from corporate representatives at the China-UK Business Forum held in Beijing on Friday. 

Visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer encouraged the UK businesses to engage more with China, as he addressed the opening ceremony of the business forum on Friday at the headquarter of the Bank of China in Beijing. The forum was jointly held by the UK government and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT).

According to CCPIT, more than 300 representatives from various fields attended the event.

Early morning on Friday before the opening ceremony of the forum, attendees chatted at the entrance hall of the Bank of China headquarters, the Global Times observed.

Andrew Lewis, Chief Executive of Liverpool City Council, told the Global Times on Friday at the sidelines of the forum that "this has been a fantastic opportunity because we have a signing today of a new relationship between Liverpool and Chinese carmaker Chery."

Lewis said that Chery commercial vehicles' European headquarters will be in Liverpool, adding that there will be many other commercial opportunities for Chery commercial vehicles in Europe, but Liverpool as the centerpiece for that investment.

"It's wonderful to be here with the prime minister, making connections between the UK and China, including commercial connections, and cultural connections to encourage tourism," said Lewis.

Warren Finegold, Chairman of Ceres Power Holdings plc, told the Global Times on Friday at the forum that they have reached a very important relationship with Weichai Power Co, a subsidiary of Shandong Heavy Industry Group Co. 

Finegold said that China is fundamental to the global energy transition because of all the fantastic green energy equipment. "We're gonna be part of that because we have technologies for manufacturing, fuel cells, electrolyze, which we hope will be the basis of partnerships with Weichai Power. But we hope other Chinese companies will also be interested in manufacturing this equipment."

And Jiella Esmat, co-founder and CEO of 8 Lions Entertainment, a company dedicated to animation film and TV production, saw huge opportunities for collaboration for distribution and co-production between UK and Chinese content companies.

"I've dealt with Chinese market for a number of years, and I'm here to help source and provide assistance to Chinese production companies and animation studios to gain international audiences outside of Asia," said Esmat.

She described the UK prime minister's visit as "a fundamental trip for the UK government and all of us delegates to demonstrate a desire for long-term collaboration built on mutual trust and respect and mutual gain."

Robert Lucas, CEO of CVC Capital Partners PLC, told the Global Times at the forum that "we've had an office in Shanghai for the last 18 years and we have major investors in China who invest with us. It's been a long standing and deep relationship and we'd like to take that even further," said Lucas.

Regarding investment areas that CVC is focusing on, Lucas pointed to sports, media, entertainment, health care, financial services and technology. 

And for Chris Torrens, chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, he is very excited that the prime minister has visited with such a large delegation.

"We have several hundred members who are UK companies on the ground in China. The visit brings a lot of confidence to British business sentiment here. We are supporting UK companies going into China and taking advantage of China's growth," said Torrens.

Torrens also said that the scale and the efficiency of China's infrastructure and its manufacturing are a stable source of supply for UK companies. "No single country can be the only supply chain source. Companies have the 'China+1' strategy, but certainly China is already the key pillar."

Regarding opportunities to explore, Torrens especially pointed to the services industry, including legal services, financial services, other professional advisory, and areas like sports and creative industries, which are "sectors where the UK is a leader on many aspects." 

Chinese companies also expressed willingness to further expand cooperation with UK partners at the forum.

For example, Wang Xingli, Co-President of Fosun Pharma and Chairman of Global R&D Center, told the Global Times on Friday that "Pharmaceutical cooperation is mutually beneficial. It is highly positive for British companies to come to China for innovative drug development, and we will seize every possible opportunity for collaboration," Wang said, noting that China's overall R&D capabilities now rank among the global leaders, and multinational enterprises will certainly be eager to seize opportunities for cooperation with China.