The next prime minister of the UK has turned out to be supportive of Beijing’s massive Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Boris Johnson says Britain is open to Chinese investment.

Shortly before he was chosen to be the next occupant of 10 Downing Street, Boris Johnson spoke to Hong Kong-based Chinese-language broadcaster Phoenix TV. In the interview he said that he is very interested in what Chinese President Xi Jinping is doing as well as Beijing’s multibillion-dollar project.

“We are very enthusiastic about the Belt and Road Initiative,” he said.

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“We’re the most open economy in Europe. Most open to international investment, particularly Chinese investment,” Britain’s prime minister-designate said, adding that Chinese companies help Britain with the construction of nuclear power plant, Hinkley Point C.

Johnson also recalled that the UK was the first country to sign up to the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), making it “very pro-China.” After London joined the China-led development bank, founded in 2016, other European nations followed suit. The EU’s overseas ally, the US is one of the two G7 members that have not signed up to be AIIB members and is believed to have tried to discourage other nations from joining.

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The former British PM Theresa May was not so enthusiastic about Beijing’s massive development. While she did not openly criticize the project, May did not sign a memorandum of understanding giving Britain’s official endorsement to it, when she came to China last year.

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