China has offered to begin formal trade negotiations with Britain, paving the way for a broad agreement after Brexit. Jeremy Hunt, the foreign secretary, welcomed the offer in Beijing yesterday and promised to weigh up the benefits of talks with the world’s second-largest economy. China has been grappling with the impact of a fierce trade dispute with the US. Mr Hunt gave a joint press conference yesterday with Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat, who he said had offered “to open discussions about a possible free trade deal done between Britain and China post-Brexit . That’s something that we welcome and we said that we will explore”.

Source: The Times July 30, 2018 23:02 UTC