Former prime minister will take charge of £750m fund to improve transport links between China and its trading partners
David Cameron has taken a job leading a billion-dollar investment initiative agreed between the UK and China.
The former prime minister, who played a key role in efforts to boost trade links with Beijing while he was in Downing Street, will take charge of the £750m fund to improve roads, ports and rail networks between China and the countries it trades with.
The fund will work on China’s multibillion pound Belt and Road initiative, which aims to create an economic corridor linking with its trading partners to the west. President Xi Jinping pledged £96bn this year to boost the project, which was first unveiled in 2013. .
The chancellor, Philip Hammond, announced the the fund and Cameron’s role during an official trade visit to China. It forms part of a series of commercial deals worth £1.4bn.
The private fund is supported by the British government, but no taxpayers’ money will be involved. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba), which considers positions taken up by former ministers, signed off on Cameron’s role.
A spokesman for the former prime minister said he was “very proud of his work launching the Golden Era between the UK and China with President Xi” and his efforts to strengthen bilateral trade and investment while in office.
