Beijing has accused the British government of “politicising trade co-operation”, and said its move to take control of British Steel had raised doubts about investment in the UK.
On Saturday, an emergency law was rushed through Parliament, giving the government control of the site to prevent Jingye from closing the furnaces against ministers’ wishes.
The government has appointed two long-standing British Steel employees to run the plant on an interim basis.
The situation at the site has raised questions about Chinese investment in industries the government has deemed strategically critical.
The government has so far stopped short of taking British Steel back into full public ownership, but has not ruled out nationalisation, while also looking for potential private investors to fund operations.
China’s embassy in the UK has urged ministers to negotiate with Jingye to “find a solution acceptable to all parties”.
In March, Jingye said its Scunthorpe site was losing £700,000 a day, which it said was “no longer financially sustainable”, and the company began a consultation on job cuts.
Government talks with Jingye last week failed to produce a breakthrough. The government said the company had rejected an offer of £500m in public money to help keep the furnaces operating, and had demanded more than twice as much with few guarantees it would keep the plant open.
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said it “became clear” to the government that Jingye was intent on closing down the blast furnaces no matter the financial support offered, prompting it to secure control of the site from its owner.
