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China has been left off the top tier of the British government’s new register to track “covert foreign influence” as UK ministers seek to rebuild relations with Beijing in their pursuit of growth.
Britain’s new foreign influence registration scheme (Firs), which comes into effect on Tuesday, is designed to give the UK public greater assurance around the activities of foreign powers seen as posing a national security risk.
The Russian and Iranian states have been placed in the top tier because of “the serious threats they pose to our interests”, according to the UK government.
Under the lower “political tier”, those involved in lobbying on behalf of any foreign power in the UK — including at Westminster — will have to identify themselves. In most cases the entry will be made available on a public register.
The more stringent “enhanced tier” applies to foreign powers considered to pose a risk to the UK’s “safety or interests” and covers a much wider range of activities.
This top tier requires the registration by an individual of any activities within the UK at the direction of a specified power or entity. Specified foreign power-controlled entities will have to register activities in the UK.
The Conservatives had called for China to be added to the enhanced tier of the register, which was set up as part of the National Security Act in 2023. Britain’s relationship with Beijing has recently been the subject of an official “audit” by the Labour government.
The government said in that audit last week that “instances of China’s espionage, interference in our democracy and the undermining of our economic security have increased in recent years”.
The Financial Times revealed in February that Britain’s security services were taking part in a review into China’s growing role in the UK’s energy system amid concerns over Beijing’s influence in strategic national infrastructure.
A UK government official said there had been “discussion over many years” on whether China should be put on the top tier but said there were “no immediate plans” to add China or any other countries to the list.
The Chinese embassy in London did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who in January led a delegation of leading bankers to Beijing to seek closer ties across a range of financial services, led cabinet opposition to China’s inclusion in the “enhanced tier” of the new register, according to government officials.
Reeves, along with business secretary Jonathan Reynolds, had argued that including Chinese nationals in the scheme would hobble business ties with the country. Yet confirmation that Beijing will not be on the enhanced tier angered some China hawks, particularly in the opposition Conservative party.
The register is loosely modelled on the US Foreign Agents Registration Act. The scheme’s introduction has been delayed as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer grappled with the question of whether to include China in the more stringent level.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, former Conservative leader and a China hawk, said it was “a huge mistake” to leave Beijing off the enhanced tier.
He said China had backed Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and supported Iran as well as committing human rights violations in its north-western Xinjiang region and ripping up civil rights in Hong Kong.
Luke de Pulford of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, an international cross-party group of legislators, said it did not make sense for the country to be excluded from the upper tier.
“Firs is the latest casualty of the UK’s China policy — a scheme designed to address state threats won’t include our biggest state threat, which makes about as much sense as it sounds,” he said.
The Home Office said the register would introduce a “new layer of accountability around political influencing activity”, which could shed light on attempts by overseas powers to shape the UK’s democratic processes.
Dan Jarvis, UK security minister, said the British government would not tolerate covert attempts to manipulate its political system or society.
“Designating Russia and Iran under the enhanced tier is a vital step in protecting the safety and interests of the UK,” he said.