Jingye Demands Full Compensation After UK Nationalises British Steel, Citing 1986 Investment Treaty
Updated
Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jul 19
Jingye Demands Full Compensation After UK Nationalises British Steel, Citing 1986 Investment Treaty
3 articles · Updated · Al Jazeera English · Jul 19
Summary
Jingye on Sunday accused Britain of offering “almost zero compensation” after nationalising British Steel and demanded immediate, full payment for losses tied to the takeover.
The Chinese group grounded its claim in a 1986 UK-China investment treaty that protects investors from arbitrary expropriation without compensation, while Beijing warned it could take further steps to defend Jingye’s rights.
Britain says the move was needed to keep Scunthorpe’s blast furnaces running, preserve domestic “virgin steel” capacity and protect thousands of jobs tied to construction and defence supply chains.
British Steel’s Scunthorpe plant employs nearly 2,700 people and makes about 3 million tonnes a year, but ministers say the business had been losing hundreds of thousands of pounds a day.
Jingye said UK support had already reached £377 million by January, could top £600 million by June and may exceed £1.5 billion by 2028, underscoring the cost and diplomatic stakes of the dispute.
Costing taxpayers £1.3M daily, will nationalised steel forge a strategic future or just melt public funds?
The UK seized a Chinese firm for 'almost zero compensation.' Will foreign investors now see Britain as too risky?
The 2026 Nationalisation of British Steel: UK’s Bold Move, Jingye’s Legal Fight, and the Future of Strategic Industry
Overview
In July 2026, the UK government nationalised British Steel after Jingye Group, its Chinese owner since 2020, planned to close the Scunthorpe plant due to financial losses. This move followed earlier government intervention in April 2025, when Jingye’s decision to shut down blast furnaces threatened the UK’s last crude steel capacity. The nationalisation aimed to protect vital industrial assets and jobs, but sparked a compensation dispute with Jingye and strong opposition from China. This decisive action highlights the UK’s willingness to prioritise national security and industrial resilience over foreign investor interests.