The bilateral trade between the two sides resumed in the 1950s and gradually expanded in the past decades, even under a slow growth between China and the whole European continent. In the first ten months of this year, the bilateral trade volume reached 56 billion U.S. dollars, increasing 7and half percent from a year ago. The UK has become China’s second largest trade partner in the EU, just behind Germany.

At the same time, the investment between the two sides has also been increasing rapidly. In the past five years, China has invested 12.4 billion U.S. dollars in the UK, either in direct investment or through M&As. Just in 2012 alone, China invested more than 8 billion U.S. dollars in the UK, which accounted for one eighth of the full-year Chinese direct investment overseas.

In the financial area, the two sides see great potentials as well, especially in the off-shore yuan business. The City of London launched a working group to promote the set up of an off-shore yuan center in the region, which attracted key international banks such as HSBC, Bank of China and Standard Chartered Bank.