During an hour-long talk, Cameron sought assurances from Xi that his government will not prescreen candidates for chief executive elections in the former British colony, the report said.
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The project would create over 25,000 jobs and power six million homes and is subject to approval by ministers, according to Britain’s Department of Energy and Climate Change.
Xi addressed those concerns, saying his country “attaches great importance to human rights”, but only on a “path suited to China’s conditions”.
The prime minister says the visit has already sealed nearly 40 billion pounds ($62 billion) in business deals, including the financing of nuclear power stations which critics say is exposing sensitive industries to Chinese control.
Cameron said a strong economic relationship could withstand frank disagreements on a few other issues. “Indeed you must have both”, he said.
Xi Jinping, the Chinese President, supported it during his United Kingdom state visit: “the Belt and Road initiative is open and we know that when everyone adds wood to the fire, the higher the flame goes”.
Mr Xi and Mr Cameron will have lunch at Manchester Town Hall with 200 businessmen and women. Xi’s visit has drawn protests from human rights and pro-Tibet groups – though they have been outnumbered by Chinese flag-waving pro-Xi crowds.
More than £30bn worth of deals are expected to be struck between the two countries during Xi’s four-day visit.
Cameron has hailed a “golden era” in relations with China, as he pitches Britain as the pre-eminent Western gateway for investment from China.
Cameron and Jinping announced Wednesday a billion agreement to build a nuclear power plant in the in the city of Somerset.
Who is President Xi Jinping?
Mr Xi’s state visit to Britain will end on Friday with the announcement of new air links between China and Manchester – the northern English city at the heart of efforts to rebalance the British economy.
Accompanied by Kate and her husband Prince William, Xi viewed innovative examples of U.K.-Chinese collaboration, including low-emission versions of a London black cab, a red London bus and James Bond’s favored Aston Martin auto – all due to be developed through deals between the two countries.
But he said the global community should avoid the “bloc mentality” of the Cold War, in an allusion to the new climate in relations between the West and Russian Federation, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Chinese leaders have been trying to reassure jittery global markets for months that they have economic developments under control after a shock devaluation of the yuan and a plunge in China’s stock market.
