The Chinese Foreign Ministry announced that the country's top diplomat, State Councillor Yang Jiechi, will be visiting Britain this week and meet with Britain's top officials, including Prime Minister Theresa May.
Yang will be in Britain from Monday to Wednesday and meet up with interested parties and state officials regarding strategic issues. According to the ministry's spokeswoman Hua Chunying, Yang will also be meeting with British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson and discuss a variety of issues. However, she cited that she is uncertain if the issue regarding the Brexit will be discussed.
She remarked, "But China's position on this is very clear. Brexit is an issue for Britain and the EU. We hope that they can appropriately handle the issue via talks and consultation."
She adds, "For China, we believe that Britain is a great country with important international influence. We hope to work hard with Britain to further promote the development of relations."
Britain is one of China's top destinations when it comes to investment and many firms see it as a way to get into the European Union's market. However, these investments may find itself at risk considering the fact Britain is in the process of finalizing its exclusion from the EU after the June 2016 referendum to leave the organization.
Prime Minister May has said that she will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty - which would allow the country to leave the European Union - by the end of March to begin the two year exit talks. However, the full strategy regarding these plans have remained in secret and investors are fearing the possibility of "hard Brexit", which would influence the policy of immigration than access to the European single market.
It is said by diplomatic sources that China may seek clarification from Britain regarding Brexit considering its potential impacts to Chinese companies.
