New Business Secretary Peter Kyle has launched his ministerial tenure with a back-to-back diplomatic sprint, beginning in Washington and continuing this week in Beijing — where he will lead the first UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) meeting in seven years.
Kyle, who was appointed on 5 September following a Cabinet reshuffle, pledged continuity with Labour’s industrial strategy and told business leaders that the UK should aim to cultivate its first $1 trillion company. Within 48 hours of his appointment, he held an emergency video call with more than 100 company leaders and unions, reiterating the government’s focus on investment, technology, and international partnerships.
His first official trip began with a visit to the White House, where Kyle met US officials to advance bilateral discussions on AI safety, tech investment, and supply chain resilience. The visit was also seen as a preparatory step ahead of US President Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK on 17 September.
Immediately following the Washington leg, Kyle was due to fly directly to Beijing for trade talks with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao. This marks the first time the UK and China have reconvened the JETCO format since 2019, following years of diplomatic cooling tied to Hong Kong policy, COVID-19 disruptions, and broader geopolitical tensions.
While Kyle will not attend the China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) in Xiamen, the UK is sending a delegation of around 200 companies to the event, according to government officials. His direct engagement is expected to centre on economic and trade policy coordination rather than commercial showcasing.
The relaunch of JETCO follows a series of UK ministerial visits to China in the past year, including Business Minister Nusrat Ghani and Chancellor Rachel Reeves. Reeves’ January trip reportedly secured £600 million in Chinese investment pledges — a figure significantly lower than the £2 billion committed by Bahrain during the same period.
“By my count, this will be the ninth government representative to go to China since Labour were elected,” said Sam Goodman, senior policy director at the China Strategic Risks Institute. “People in government are trying to characterise this as a reset, but I query how much the UK has got out of this reset so far.”
China remains the UK’s fifth-largest export destination, with annual exports totalling approximately £41 billion. Analysts suggest the renewed push reflects Labour’s wider bid to re-establish trade links post-Brexit and revitalise international business confidence amid mounting global competition.
JETCO was established in 2004 as a high-level forum for trade policy coordination but has remained dormant since 2019. The talks now resume amid cautious optimism from both sides — with China eager to attract Western business and the UK seeking to diversify trade dependencies beyond Europe and the United States.
Kyle’s dual itinerary — Washington followed by Beijing — underlines the government’s ambition to straddle two economic giants while advancing its post-Brexit growth agenda. The diplomatic intensity of his first week in office sets the stage for what could become a defining period in UK trade relations.
