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China’s well-documented strategy of investing in British companies and infrastructure means that Beijing has a huge presence in Scotland with everything from whisky and beer to wind farms and North Sea oil and gas under Chinese control.

The Sunday Times has compiled ‘The China List’ – first published in 2021 and updated two years later – which shows the Chinese state owns UK assets worth £45billion. In total, Chinese and Hong Kong investors own a portfolio worth £152bn including huge stakes in companies such as HSBC, AstraZeneca, Shell, BP and Diageo.

Infamously, Beijing’s assets include a 33% stake in the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station and a 100% stake in UK Power Networks, which runs the power grid across London and south east England.

But one of the most lucrative investments is the 49% stake in Neptune Energy, a German firm with North Sea oil and gas assets. Over five years, it returned £294m in dividends to the China Investment Corporation.

Red Rock Renewables is based in Edinburgh, although it is a subsidiary of China’s State Development and Investment Corporation. In September, it was reported that Red Rock was looking to sell its portfolio of Scottish wind farms, which was valued at £500m to £700m.

They include the Beatrice offshore wind farm in the Moray Firth, which can power up to 450,000 homes, and the Afton and Benbrack onshore wind farms.

A new report by the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK shows that 4.1% of Chinese-owned companies in the UK are headquartered in Scotland – the highest percentage outside London and the south east of England. Also, 27.4% of Chinese firms in the UK have Scottish operations.

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