Prime Minister David Cameron has promised to throw his political weight behind a free trade agreement between the European Union and China which he says could be worth tens of billions of pounds a year.
Mr Cameron’s call came as he arrived in Beijing at the head of the largest British trade delegation ever to visit the country, which has emerged to become the world’s second biggest economy in recent years.
The European Commission is to begin investment treaty negotiations with China in the New Year to reduce some trade barriers.
But in talks with premier Li Keqiang on Sunday, Mr Cameron became the first EU leader to discuss a full-scale free trade agreement, which Downing Street said could be worth £1.8 billion annually to the UK alone.
The proposal is likely to face stiff resistance from some EU states, who fear their markets would be flooded with cheap Chinese imports.
However, Mr Cameron, who raised the possibility of a free-trade deal at talks with EU partners in Lithuania last week, believes that eliminating tariffs in the 20 sectors where they are highest such as vehicles, pharmaceuticals and electrical goods could save UK exporters £600 million a year.
“Britain is uniquely placed to make the case for deepening the European Union’s trade and investment relationship with China,” he said. “Building on the recent launch of EU-China negotiations on investment, and on China’s continued commitment to economic reform, I now want to set a new long-term goal of an ambitious and comprehensive EU-China Free Trade Agreement.”