David Cameron, UK prime minister, went to China leading a coalition government and a large delegation of British business figures, hoping to do business. He left realising that achieving big export deals with China is a slow and difficult process, even though he spoke softly on human rights and avoided gaffes.
New business worth billions of pounds was hailed by Mr Cameron during the visit but the export deals announced on the trip amounted to less than £1bn with a Rolls-Royce deal for 16 new jet engines accounting for £750m of a total no higher than £900m ($1.4bn).
Other big deals that had been expected – one between BP and China’s state-owned energy group CNOOC and another with UK drinks group Diageo – did not come off, Downing Street officials said, because the Chinese political establishment was not ready to sign even though the British companies had dipped their pens in the ink.