The container ship Ever Given arrives at Felixstowe port on August 3, 2021 in England. The container ship had become lodged in the canal in March, requiring a six-day salvage operation to free the vessel. File Photo: VCG

China’s foreign trade with the UK fell 6.7 percent year-on-year in dollar-denominated terms in the first 11 months of 2022, in stark contrast to a growth of 5.9 percent in China’s overall trade, as some politicians in the UK increasingly politicize trade issues, which negatively impacted economic ties with China.

China-UK bilateral trade stood at $95.11 billion in the first 11 months of the year, down 6.7 percent year-on-year, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs (GAC) on Wednesday.

Over the period, China’s exports to the UK declined 4.6 percent to $74.96 billion, while imports from the UK slumped 13.8 percent to $20.15 billion, according to the GAC.

The poor trade performance between the two countries came as UK-China ties are now at a crossroads after UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in his first foreign policy speech that the “golden era” of UK-China relations is over.

Some British politicians increasingly politicize economic issues with China. Aside from excluding Huawei from its 5G network, the UK recently made a U-turn by blocking Chinese electronics firm Wingtech Technology Co’s acquisition of an indebted semiconductor wafer factory in the country’s Southwest.

Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang said during a financial and economic forum in London in November that China is seriously concerned over the UK government’s political intervention in aspects of business cooperation.

“Such practices by the UK damages the interests of those companies involved and also deals a heavy blow to its own credibility among Chinese and international investors. China-UK economic and trade cooperation is mutually beneficial in nature. Joint efforts of both are needed for our business ties to maintain healthy development,” he stressed.

If some British politicians continue to take an increasingly hostile approach toward China and even call for an “economic decoupling” with China in lock step with the US, it would definitely deal a blow to China-UK relations and harm the UK's economic recovery, Li Guanjie, a research fellow from the Shanghai Academy of Global Governance and Area Studies, told the Global Times in a recent interview.