British energy secretary to visit China in March to restart energy talks

British Energy Secretary Ed Miliband will visit China in March to restart talks on energy cooperation and meet Chinese investors, three sources with direct knowledge of the plan said, as the Labour government seeks closer China ties amid worsening US- and EU-China relations, Report informs via Reuters.

The sources, who were not authorized to speak to media, said Miliband will visit Beijing on March 17-19, which Reuters is reporting for the first time.

British officials have said they want to recalibrate many of the previous Conservative Party-led government's positions on China, particularly around accepting Chinese job-creating investment and allowing Chinese firms to provide critical infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power will still be off the table when Miliband is expected to sit down on March 17 with his Chinese counterpart, Zhang Jianhua, to revive the UK-China Energy Dialogue, two of the sources said. Collaboration in other forms of clean and sustainable energy, as well as energy security, will be on the agenda instead.

On the same day, Miliband will pitch Britain to Chinese private investors at a roundtable meeting, one of the sources added.

Britain's Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Labour government, in power in Britain since July, has made improving ties with China one of its main foreign policy goals, after a period when relations plunged to their lowest levels in decades under successive Conservative governments.