Chinese investments in UK sectors, 2010-2019

Over the past decade, China has invested heavily in critical infrastructure around the world including the UK. More than £15 billion of critical UK assets are now owned by Chinese enterprises.

Since 2010, China has invested around £56 billion in UK assets. Chinese investments include large stakes or full ownership of household names such as British Steel, Thames Water, Hamleys, Harvey Nichols, National Grid, and Heathrow airport. Elsewhere, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation is now the largest operator in the North Sea, and China General Nuclear Power (CGN), a state-owned enterprise, holds a 33.5% stake in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power plant currently under construction in Somerset.

The level of investment by China in such critical UK infrastructure since 2010 stands at over £15 billion. While many of these investments are innocuous, the recent controversy surrounding the involvement in the UK’s mobile phone networks by the Chinese telecoms giant, Huawei, means that close attention will undoubtedly be paid to Chinese investment in critical UK infrastructure.