Focus on UK, urges PM

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday encouraged China to focus on Britain when it starts investing some of the vast foreign exchange reserves it has piled up in recent years.

Brown, on his first official visit to China since taking office in June, said he did not share worries that other countries might have about Chinese investment.

"This is a very substantial fund. It can invest positively. I realize that in some countries it is controversial, but I have talked to Premier Wen Jiabao about that," Brown said at a news conference in Beijing after meeting with Wen.

China has US$1.5 trillion in foreign exchange reserves and has set up a US$200 billion sovereign wealth fund to invest some of the money.

Wen said US$60 billion to US$70 billion of the fund could be invested overseas.

Brown was accompanied by a high-profile delegation of business leaders including flamboyant Virgin entrepreneur Richard Branson.