Ministers are facing warnings about the extent of China’s involvement in Britain’s critical infrastructure amid a race to keep furnaces at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site going.
The government’s decision to step in to protect the company has shone a spotlight on other areas of critical infrastructure in which Chinese firms have a stake.
Not all companies in China will support President Xi’s regime, but all private companies in the country have a legal duty to follow the state’s instructions when required.
A banner outside the Scunthorpe steelworks
ADAM VAUGHAN/EPA
The Sunday Times previously revealed that more than 100 British companies count the Chinese state as a shareholder. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by these companies.
In 2023 the newspaper’s China List found that UK assets held by the Chinese state totalled £45
