Shell, BP, AstraZeneca and others. China controls British assets worth £190 billion

The Chinese control British assets, including companies and real estate, worth over £190 billion, the Sunday Times reported on Sunday. The newspaper revealed that the Chinese Communist Party earns at least £15 million a year from running three hotels for asylum seekers in the UK.

The editors published a list of 442 investments located in the United Kingdom, owned by individuals and companies from China and Hong Kong, including entities supported by the government in Beijing.

“Their value increased to £190 billion from £134 billion in 2021 and £152 billion in 2023. Some of the long-term investments, from nuclear power plants to water utilitieshave seen a sharp increase in value, while others are (assets) newly purchased (by Chinese nationals),” we read in the Sunday Times.

An analysis of share prices, company valuations and publicly available accounts showed, among others, that the Chinese own a large part of the British infrastructure, including 8.7 percent. shares in the country's largest airport, London-Heathrow, as well as in water supply companies, wind farms and energy networks. In addition, they own 28 schools, including the prestigious Plymouth College and Ruthin School in north Wales, which was opened in 1284.

It was also established that until The Chinese own shares of companies listed on the FTSE index worth £92.4 billion. This includes shares, among others: in the oil giants Shell and BP, in the global mining company Rio Tinto, as well as in the pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca.

“The list includes assets worth nearly £139.2 billion owned by private companies and individuals based in China and Hong Kong. Many of them may not support leader Xi Jinping or his policies. Their investments include apartments and commercial buildings, video game studios and pharmaceutical companies. They also include stakes of around 50% in the Clarks shoe company, the Lotus car brand, Wolverhampton Wanderers football club and Wentworth golf club in Surrey,” he calculated. diary.

Last year, the British government completed an audit of relations with China, parts of which were included in the national security strategy published in June. However, the audit itself remains secret.

In response, the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China prepared its own report on bilateral relations between London and Beijing, which was shared with the Sunday Times. The full content of the document has not been published yet.

“Trade between the UK and China can no longer be seen as a neutral or purely (economic) space. Instead, it increasingly reflects strategic competition, national security concerns and controversial norms around governance and the use of technology,” the newspaper said, quoting an excerpt from the report. Its authors noted that China has begun to dictate conditions in such important areas as renewable technologies and electric vehicles.

The Sunday Times recalled that in 2024, Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves and David Lammy, then Foreign Secretary, visited Beijing to attract new investment to the British Isles.

Marta Zabłocka (PAP)

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