China's investment spree in UK gave it access to military-grade technology, BBC told

5 hours ago Share Save Celia Hatton BBC Panorama Share Save

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China has financed tens of billions of pounds' worth of investment in UK businesses and projects this century, some of which gave it access to military-grade technology, BBC Panorama has learned. The spending spree - worth £45bn ($59bn) at 2023 prices - was at its height following a 2015 Chinese state directive, aimed at making the country a global leader in high-tech industries. The UK has been the top destination among G7 nations for these investments, relative to the size of its population and economy, according to US-based research group AidData. Panorama has investigated how this led to cutting-edge technology and skills being transferred to China. The UK was "far too free in allowing access to strategically important industries", according to a former head of GCHQ.

The BBC was given exclusive early access to data collected by AidData, a research group at William & Mary, a university in the US state of Virginia. A leading specialist in tracking how governments spend money overseas, AidData receives funding from governments and charitable foundations around the world. Some government-backed Chinese investments were purely commercial but others were in line with Beijing's strategic objectives, according to Dr Brad Parks, AidData's executive director.

These objectives were laid out by China's communist leaders in a strategic plan 10