China has financed tens of billions of pounds' worth of investment in UK businesses and projects this century, some of which gave it access to military-grade technology, BBC Panorama has learned.
The spending spree - worth £45bn ($59bn) at 2023 prices - was at its height following a 2015 Chinese state directive, aimed at making the country a global leader in high-tech industries.
The UK has been the top destination among G7 nations for these investments, relative to the size of its population and economy, according to US-based research group AidData.
Panorama has investigated how this led to cutting-edge technology and skills being transferred to China. The UK was "far too free in allowing access to strategically important industries", according to a former head of GCHQ.
The BBC was given exclusive early access to data collected by AidData, a research group at William & Mary, a university in the US state of Virginia. A leading specialist in tracking how governments spend money overseas, AidData receives funding from governments and charitable foundations around the world.
