China urges caution over British Steel nationalisation plan

China on Thursday urged Britain to "make decisions prudently" over plans to nationalise British Steel, and called on the British government to "respect the wishes of firms and market principles, and avoid the abuse of administrative coercive measures".

The British government seized operational control of British Steel from ​its Chinese owners, Jingye, in April 2025 and, under plans announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, could fully nationalise it.

China will closely follow the developments and will "take strong measures to safeguard legitimate rights of Chinese companies", according to a statement released by the commerce ministry.

The British government did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment

𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗔𝗽𝗽 ↓