Why the JETCO trade talks matter for UK SMEs
On 2 July 2026, Business and Trade Secretary Peter Kyle sat down with China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at Mansion House in London for the 15th UK-China Joint Economic and Trade Commission (JETCO) — the main formal channel through which the two governments negotiate market access and resolve trade irritants. Around 200 UK and Chinese business representatives attended the accompanying "Export to China" event, including Brompton Bikes, HSBC, Barclays, JD.com and ICBC.
The headline number: UK-China trade reached £135 billion in 2025, up 5.6% on the year before, with UK services exports to China at £21 billion. That sounds healthy — but China is still only the UK's ninth-largest market for services exports, despite the UK being the world's second-largest services exporter. That gap is the opportunity JETCO is aimed at.
Three outcomes matter for SMEs specifically:
Why this matters if you run a UK SME: the diplomatic reset is real, and the institutional plumbing is now in place. None of it removes the hard part — due diligence, finding the right partner, understanding the regulatory environment — but it lowers the cost of getting started, at a moment when trade with the US has become less predictable.
News round-up
UK-China trade and investment factsheet (31 July 2026, DBT): on the rolling 12-month measure (to end Q1 2026), UK-China trade in goods and services stood at £107.2bn, up 2.7% year-on-year. China remains the UK's 4th-largest trading partner overall. Two different totals are in circulation this edition (£135bn calendar-year vs £107.2bn rolling) — worth knowing before quoting either one in a pitch deck.
UK outward investment into China jumped 78.9% to £16.5bn (end of 2024, latest available), while Chinese inward investment into the UK grew a more modest 11.8% to £2.5bn.
Business highlights
CBBC's China-UK Trade Tracker remains the most-cited independent benchmark UK firms use to sanity-check government trade figures — worth bookmarking for board papers.
The Professional and Business Services Matchmaking platform announced at July's JETCO is the one to watch over the next two editions.
Cultural events
Event listings for London's China-focused venues move fast — check China Exchange and the British Museum's China resources page directly nearer the time.
Confucius Institutes across the UK start their autumn term of Mandarin evening classes on 5 October 2026 — a nudge for anyone whose Mandarin could use the practice before a client trip.
UK–China links
SOAS China Institute runs China In Context, a podcast and blog series worth following for the academic read on current events.
The Great Britain-China Centre (GBCC), the FCDO-linked body funding UK-China exchange since 1974, published its 2024–25 annual report this year.
A taste of China
Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐). Sichuan's most famous export after chilli oil itself — silken tofu in a sauce built on doubanjiang, Sichuan peppercorn and minced pork, and the dish that best explains málà, the numbing-spicy pairing that defines Sichuan cooking. Red House Spice's recipe is the one to start with. If you're courting a Sichuanese business partner, cooking this before you meet them will not go unnoticed.
About Wyvern Gateway
Wyvern Gateway is edited by Richard Daff — a PhD researcher in UK-Chinese cultural identity, an MA graduate in East Asian studies, a BA (Hons) graduate in Chinese Studies, and a Mandarin speaker who has lived and worked in China, alongside a career in UK professional services and higher education. This newsletter draws on that background to sort the signal from the noise in UK-China business coverage.