UK Nationalizes British Steel, China Expresses Strong Discontent

Beijing. China has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the UK government's decision to nationalize the British steel company British Steel. The UK government announced on Thursday that it would bring the loss-making company under government ownership. It was stated that this move would protect jobs and secure the country's strategic industrial capacity.

Although the UK government took control of the operations of British Steel in Scunthorpe last year, the company's ownership remained with the Chinese Jingye Group. With the new decision, the company will go into full public ownership. In a statement released on Friday, China's Ministry of Commerce said that the UK's move has severely damaged the legitimate rights and interests of the Jingye Group and weakened the confidence of Chinese companies investing in the UK.