Keir Starmer says the move, announced during his trip to Beijing, will help support thousands of British jobs
Britain’s biggest drugmaker AstraZeneca is to invest $15bn (£11bn) in China, it announced during Keir Starmer’s visit to the country, just months after cooling on plans for expansion in the UK.
The Cambridge-based company said it would spend the money by 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and research and development in China, where it already has a big presence. It includes the construction of a $2.5bn research hub in Beijing, which was announced last March.
During the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years, Starmer said the move would help AstraZeneca to grow into a bigger business, thereby supporting thousands of UK jobs.
He added: “The multibillion-pound investment announced today from AstraZeneca, alongside partnerships from some of our country’s leading universities, furthers research and development in the UK which is helping to power our world-class life sciences sector.”
