In the second oral evidence hearing of the BTC's inquiry
on China and the UK
economy the Committee turns to the risks of
economic engagement with China in the areas of competition,
economic coercion, supply chain risks and
investment security.
China's traditional image of a low-cost manufacturing exporter
has been supplanted as it moves to a position of global
leadership in high tech R&D in life
sciences, renewable energy and electric vehicles.
In 2023, China became the largest
exporter of cars, and US carmakers and politicians
alike are reportedly eyeing President Trump's
current visit to China with huge trepidation. While
the US sector is currently protected by 100% tariffs
that some lawmakers insist are
non-negotiable, President Trump himself has opened the door
to Chinese investment in US auto manufacturing.
Faced with the competitive might of a country that has gone from
“factory to laboratory”, some EU firms are looking
to form partnerships in China. But this opens the huge risk
of ceding expertise to their greatest
competitor.
Across three panels, the Committee will ask witnesses to assess
the form and level of these risks to UK industry and markets.
Should the UK Government follow the EU in putting measures in
place to level the playing field for UK firms? Or, at a time
when many British households are
under growing financial pressure, should we be
welcoming an influx of low-cost and increasingly sophisticated
Chinese goods into the UK?
Rt Hon MP, Chair of the Committee,
said: “The era when economic engagement with China
could be treated as merely a matter of trade is over. China is
now a systemic competitor across advanced manufacturing, green
technology, artificial intelligence and critical supply chains.
“That creates opportunities for British consumers and exporters,
but it also raises difficult questions about market distortion,
economic coercion, technology transfer and strategic dependency.
The Committee's task is to examine whether Britain's rules,
institutions and industrial strategy are now fit for the future
to protect fair competition and our economic security in this new
and riskier age”
On Tuesday 19
May 2026 from 230pm: Economic
competition: Fair and Unfair
- Silvia Gavornikova, Head of Export Credits and
Competition Division, Trade and Agriculture Directorate
at Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD)
- George Magnus, Research Associate at University of
Oxford China Centre
- Soumaya Keynes, Columnist at Financial Times
- Joerg Wuttke, Partner at DGA Group
At approximately 3:15pm: Economic
coercion, geopolitics and supply chain
security
- Sam Olsen, Chief Analyst at Sibylline
- Grzegorz Stec, Head of Brussels Office and Senior Analyst at
Mercator Institute for China Studies
- Andrew Small, Asia Programme Director at European Council on
Foreign Relations
- Professor , Professor of Human
Rights and Contemporary Slavery at Centre for International
Justice, Sheffield Hallam University
At approximately 4:00pm: Investment
security
- Aline Doussin, Partner, Global Regulatory at Hogan
Lovells
- Dr Ron Black, Former Chief Executive Officer, Imagination
Technologies
- Sam Goodman, Senior Policy Director at China Strategic Risks
Institute
