China criticizes the UK for dealing with British Steel | Story

The UK has selected its last steel mill, fearing former Chinese owners could stop it.

Beijing has warned the United Kingdom that its takeover of British Steel has “severely undermined” the confidence of Chinese companies in investing in the UK.

The UK made the country a bankrupt company on Thursday in what the government said was an act to protect the country’s interests.

British Steel is the sole source of steel for the UK. It employs around 2,700 people at its main plant in Scunthorpe and on many routes.

The company’s former owner, Jingye – which is among China’s 100 largest companies – bought British Steel for 70 million pounds ($94m) in 2020. By 2025, Jingye said it would lose 700,000 pounds ($942,000) every day.

British Steel has been operating for over a year.

In March 2025, Jingye held a hearing which concluded that British Steel’s furnaces were not financially sustainable. The following month, it emerged that Jingye had suspended orders for major steel products, prompting fears that he was planning to shut down the blast furnaces.

That same month, the UK government confiscated British Steel’s equipment from Jingye to prevent this from happening. The Chinese company retained ownership, but lost control over operations.

On Thursday, however, ownership was transferred to the UK government, which says it will appoint an independent auditor to “assess whether compensation is paid” to Jingye.

The policy has angered Beijing. The takeover of British Steel “seriously harmed” Jingye’s rights and interests and “severely undermined” the confidence of Chinese companies in investing in the UK, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

The UK, the ministry said, is “forced” to take over the company and will “ignore” Jingye’s contribution to the British economy and society.

The ministry urged the UK to implement the terms of the China-UK Investment Protection Agreement and said it would help Chinese companies protect their rights.