China urges caution over British Steel nationalization plan

China on Thursday urged the British government to “make decisions prudently” over plans to nationalize British Steel, calling on it to “respect the wishes of firms and market principles, and avoid the abuse of administrative coercive measures.”

Britain seized operational control of British Steel from ​its Chinese owners, Jingye, in April 2025 and, under plans announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, could fully nationalize it.

China will closely follow developments and will “take strong measures to safeguard legitimate rights of Chinese companies,” according to a statement released by the commerce ministry.

A British government spokesperson said it was committed to respecting the rights of businesses.

“We would only use the powers in the Bill where the public interest test has been met,” the spokesperson said, referring to the new legislation that gives the government the power to bring British Steel into public ownership.

(Reporting by Yukun Zhang, Xiuhao Chen and Liz Lee in Beijing; Additional reporting by Muvija M in London; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman and Toby Chopra)