Campaigners against the line said that his appeal to Chinese companies to bid for construction contracts worth £11.8 billion made a “nonsense” of his claims the project would create thousands of jobs.
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He is now on a five-day trade tour of China as part of efforts to build a “golden” relationship between the two countries where he announced that wants to take China from Britain’s sixth largest trading partner to its second.
He is also due to talk about and a commitment to reinvigorate partnerships between Northern and Chinese cities, including Sheffield’s Sister City agreement with Chengdu, which has fostered significant business, civic and cultural links since 2010.
George Osborne was accompanied by Lord Jim O’Neil, British Business Secretary, Former Chief Economist of Goldman, and BRIC concept proposer, Sherry Madera, British Embassy Minister-Counsellor, and British business representatives.
“That’s why I’m here in China today, opening the bidding process for construction contracts worth £11.8bn, which will propel HS2 forward”, he said.
Speaking during his visit there, Mr Osborne said “we raise human rights, but we do it in the context of also talking about issues like economic development”.
In an editorial (in Chinese), the Global Times praised Mr Osborne’s “pragmatism regarding his China policy”, adding that “it should be diplomatic etiquette for foreign leaders not to confront China by raising the human rights issue“.
“Now he’s trying to build his position as a statesman on the worldwide stage in the hope he will be prime minister when David Cameron steps down”.
“Chinese railway technology has the unique advantage of being cost effective”, said James Jameson, Vice President of Product Strategy at Rivo, a British firm that supplies safety software to the rail industry.
Mr Osborne’s Chinese charm offensive has also caused some bad blood between London and Washington which complained about the UK’s “constant accommodation” of China after Mr Osborne joined China’s new rival Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank past year. As part of the plans, 10,000 new homes will be built and 18,000 new jobs will be created.
Mr Kirby said that it was important to use the period while the bill was going through Parliament in order to ensure the project delivered value for money for tax payers.
The 43 billion-pound rail project, called High Speed 2, has divided opinion in Britain because of its rising costs and the potential impact on the countryside and local communities.
Final contracts would not be signed until the bill received Royal Assent.
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In contrast on Friday it said that Britain “aims to consolidate its big power status by leading Europe’s relations with China”.
