Jingye, the largely unknown Chinese company that acquired British Steel almost three years ago, has pumped in just £156m since acquiring the business in a Government-supported takeover in March 2020, the Telegraph can disclose. Jingye is threatening to close one of the plant’s two blast furnaces and make 2,000 people at the British Steel works redundant unless Grant Shapps, the Business Secretary, agrees to provide state aid totalling hundreds of millions of pounds. China has been “busy fishing into our pond” when it comes to industrial assets, said former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who called upon the Government to safeguard strategic industries such as steel. The move places a large question mark over the company’s intentions, he said, since prior deals suggest that “China is not a reliable partner, it’s a threat to us.”
Read more: CHINESE owners of BRITISH Steel breaks investment promise – oh, no, I’m shocked
