China's Jingye Group is demanding compensation from the UK government following the nationalisation of British Steel. Jingye, which purchased British Steel in 2020, claims the UK government has disregarded its investment and offered 'almost zero compensation,' calling the nationalisation a violation of international law. The company has initiated formal consultations under bilateral investment treaties and is considering international arbitration. It argues that the UK government's actions undermine investor confidence and harm both Jingye and British taxpayers. The UK government values British Steel at nil but must establish a compensation scheme, with an independent valuer tasked to determine any owed compensation. Jingye's threat to pursue legal action highlights the growing tensions between the UK and China.

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China’s Jingye demands payout over British Steel nationalisation

UK government accused of disregarding group’s investment and offering ‘almost zero compensation’

A large sign outside British Steel’s Scunthorpe works reads "British Steel For The Nation" with factory buildings and smokestacks in the background. British Steel’s Scunthorpe works. The UK government formally took British Steel into public ownership last week © Christopher Furlong/Getty Images

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Susannah Savage in London and William Langley in Guangzhou

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China’s Jingye has demanded compensation from the UK government and threatened to pursue international arbitration over the nationalisation of British Steel, escalating a dispute that has strained relations between London and Beijing.

The Beijing-based industrial group, which bought British Steel in 2020, said on Sunday it had started formal consultations under the relevant bilateral investment agreements.

In a statement published on Chinese social media platform WeChat, Jingye accused the UK government of disregarding its investment in the steelmaker and offering “almost zero compensation”.

The nationalisation was “blatant extortion and a flagrant violation of international law”, it said.

The group claimed the government’s actions had damaged the UK’s credibility, unsettled international investors and caused losses both to Jingye and British taxpayers.

“Those who harm others will inevitably harm themselves and broken promises will always backfire,” it said.

Jingye also said it intended to pursue legal claims against the UK government and British Steel’s management on behalf of British taxpayers, although it did not provide details of how it planned to do so.

Jingye first announced last month that it had initiated consultations with the UK government under a bilateral investment treaty and reserved the right to pursue international arbitration.

The UK government has said it considers the commercial value of British Steel to be nil. However, legislation requires ministers to establish a compensation scheme, with regulations due to be laid before parliament in the autumn. An independent valuer will determine what, if anything, Jingye is owed, and the company will then have the right to appeal.

The UK government formally took British Steel into public ownership last week, having assumed operational control of the business in 2025 after Jingye warned that it could close the two blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe plant.

The furnaces are the last in the UK capable of producing primary, or “virgin”, steel from raw materials. The Scunthorpe site employs about 2,700 people.

The Department for Business and Trade said when announcing the nationalisation on July 17 that the intervention would protect thousands of jobs and preserve the UK’s ability to produce steel domestically for infrastructure and defence projects.

Jingye acquired British Steel out of insolvency in 2020 and has argued that its investment rescued the company from collapse. The group and the UK government subsequently became locked in a dispute over the future of the lossmaking Scunthorpe operations and the level of public support required to maintain primary steelmaking.

China’s foreign ministry on Saturday urged the British government to find a “mutually acceptable” arrangement to compensate Jingye.

“How the UK handles this matter will directly affect Chinese investors’ perception of the UK investment environment,” it said in a statement.

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