Chinese investors, including state-linked organisations, now control more than £190 billion in British companies and property, with Beijing reportedly profiting millions annually from asylum accommodation, according to analysis compiled by The Sunday Times in UK.
The research, published in the Sunday Times China List, highlights 442 UK-based assets owned by private individuals, firms from China and Hong Kong, and Chinese state-backed organisations. These holdings have surged in value from £134 billion in 2021 to £152 billion in 2023, and now to £190 billion.
Among the most striking revelations, organisations connected to the Chinese Communist Party own three hotels block-booked for asylum seekers, generating at least £15 million in Home Office contracts.
The report details the breadth of Chinese investments across critical UK infrastructure, education, and commercial sectors:
- National infrastructure: Stakes in Heathrow Airport, water companies, wind farms, and power networks.
- Education: Ownership of 28 independent schools, including Plymouth College and the 741-year-old Ruthin School in north Wales.
- Financial and commercial holdings: £92.4 billion in FTSE-listed companies and a logistics firm, Logicor, which paid £34.8 million to Beijing in dividends last year.
Chinese state-linked assets alone are valued at £51.3 billion. Key investments include:
- Hinkley Point C: 27.4% owned by China General Nuclear Power Group, worth £13.2 billion.
- Heathrow Airport: 8.7% owned by China Investment Corporation (CIC), valued at over £2 billion.
- Thames Water and Cadent Gas: CIC stakes worth £1.8 billion and £1.3 billion, respectively.
- Royal Mint Court, London: Purchased for £255 million, slated for China’s new embassy.
- Offshore wind farms: Including Inch Cape, 50% owned by China’s SDIC, valued at £1.75 billion.
The list also underscores the role of private Chinese investors such as billionaire Li Ka-shing, whose holdings include Northumbrian Water, telecoms giant VodafoneThree, Greene King pubs, and Superdrug, with stakes yielding hundreds of millions in revenue.
The scale of these holdings has prompted concerns over UK national security and economic influence. Anne Keast-Butler, director of GCHQ, has described China as an “epoch-defining and systemic challenge” to Britain’s security and prosperity.
Political debate in the UK has intensified, with Labour MPs like Dame Priti Patel criticising the government for allegedly prioritising economic ties with Beijing over national security. The UK government’s own China audit remains largely classified, although the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) produced an independent review highlighting the strategic implications of UK-China trade and investment.
On the asylum hotels specifically, the Sunday Times analysis shows that Kew Green Hotels and Campanile, ultimately state-owned via China Tourism Group and the Shanghai municipal government, have profited from Home Office contracts housing asylum seekers in Warrington, Ashford, and Cardiff.
The research also details significant stakes held in FTSE 100 companies by Chinese and Hong Kong investors, including Shell, BP, Rio Tinto, and AstraZeneca, while private investments cover property, retail, education, sports, and technology sectors.
