Trade figures have just been released by the UK's Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs ( also known as Defra) and they show a big leap forward. British exports to China jumped to £22 billion, a 28 per cent rise from 2016.
China is now the UK’s sixth largest export market, accounting for 3.6 per cent of sales last year
compared with less than 1 per cent in 1999. The International Monetary Fund has also stated that they expect 90 per cent of growth in the next decade will be outside the EU.
With no clear road forward with Brexit negotiations, it looks like UK businesses are already starting to look further afield for new markets. In fact, outside of the EU, China now sits in second place to the US in terms of volume of trade deals.
A considerable part of this demand is the growing Chinese appreciation for British food and drinks, with milk powder, salmon, whisky, and beer all increasing in popularity. In fact China is now the eighth-largest export market for UK food and drink.
The UK Food and Drink Federation also reported there is growing Chinese interest in the UK's "afternoon tea" products, which includes jams, scones, tea, and cakes.
Pun fully intended as it does give you food for thought.
This news was also reported on China Daily.Com, shown and linked below
