HSBC Chairman to lead pivotal UK business delegation to China

By Sinead Cruise and Andrew MacAskill

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - HSBC HSBA.L Chairman Mark Tucker will lead the British government's most important business delegation to China since 2018 next month, sources told Reuters, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves seeks to attract greater Chinese investment into Britain.

Veteran financier and former Hong Kong resident Tucker, who has led the board at Asia-focused HSBC for the last seven years, is considered a vital asset by the British government as it looks to reset relations with the superpower, two sources said.

Tucker and other senior bankers will travel to China next month to try to boost trade and investment with a particular focus on financial services, the sources said, despite concerns from some British members of parliament that closer ties with Beijing could potentially undermine national security.

"The Chancellor will visit Beijing in the new year to discuss economic and financial cooperation with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng. Further details will be announced in the usual way in due course and we would not comment on speculation before such a time," a spokesperson for the UK Treasury told Reuters.

HSBC declined to comment on Tucker's appointment or the role he could play in furthering the chancellor's aims.

The purpose of Reeves' trip is to revive the UK-China Economic and Financial Dialogue, a forum for talks on trade, investment and other economic issues that was last held in 2019, according to government officials.

They asked not to be named because they were not authorised to speak publicly on the issue.

RIFT OVER HONG KONG

Britain decided to suspend most economic dialogues with China in 2020 after Beijing imposed a national security law in Hong Kong, the former British colony. Since then, spying allegations, the war in Ukraine, and the sanctioning of lawmakers have increased tensions between the two countries.

The Labour government, in power in Britain since July, has made improving ties with China one of its main foreign policy goals after a period under successive Conservative governments when relations plunged to their lowest in decades.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer was the first British leader to meet with President Xi Jinping since 2018 when they held talks at the G20 summit in Brazil last month and government ministers have struck more conciliatory tones about the security threat posed by China.

Reeves said this week that she would take a pragmatic approach to relations with Beijing and it was in the country's national interest to seek investment from China.

The stance has angered some Conservative lawmakers who have said China poses a security threat. It was revealed last week that UK authorities banned a Chinese businessman with close links to Prince Andrew from Britain, after he was suspected of being a spy.

Britain's decision to seek closer ties with China comes as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is expected to take a tougher approach to China during his second term in power, which could include imposing import tariffs.

Before joining HSBC, Tucker served as Group Chief Executive and President of AIA Group Limited and Asia-focused insurer Prudential plc.

He was appointed to China's National Financial Regulatory Administration International Advisory Council in 2023 and is a member of the International Business Leaders' Advisory Councils to the Mayors of Beijing and Shanghai, the HSBC website says.

(Editing by Barbara Lewis)

((sinead.cruise@thomsonreuters.com; 020 7513 5026; Reuters Messaging: sinead.cruise.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))