British Prime Minister Theresa May will seize the opportunity during the G20 meeting in China to talk to leaders from countries like Australia who have already made clear that they want to strike a deal once Britain has left the European Union (EU), Downing Street said in a statement on Sunday.[Special coverage]
May has traveled to Hangzhou with a mission to set out her ambition for Britain to become a global leader in free trade.
Her official spokesperson at Number 10 said the prime minister intends to use the G20 summit to robustly champion free trade "while underlining the need to do more to spread the benefits and build a fairer economy for all".
"The Prime Minister will warn that while more people are feeling left behind by globalization, 'the answer cannot be to retreat, turn to protectionism or abandon free trade'," said the official.
Hailing the British government's new industrial strategy as an example, May has called on countries to do more to ensure that working people benefit from the jobs and opportunities that trade brings by investing in skills, training and infrastructure.
"The Prime Minister also hopes to kick off exploratory talks with a number of countries around the world to enable the UK to forge its own new trade deals once we have left the EU," according to the statement.
"Tomorrow (Monday) the Prime Minister will meet with the Australian Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, who has already signaled that Australia will want to negotiate an important trade deal with the United Kingdom," added the statement from London.
It added that following an introductory phone call between both leaders in July, officials from May's newly established Department for International Trade have been in discussions with the Australian government about the expertise and experience that Australia can offer, having themselves negotiated five free trade agreements in the last three years as well as the multilateral Trans-Pacific Partnership.
"This week a team of UK government officials will hold talks in Canberra with their Australian counterparts about establishing a trade negotiating team and the Australian government have also offered to second experienced negotiators to the UK as we seek to rapidly establish a world class trade policy team," said the statement.
One of the issues raised in Britain following the June 23 referendum on continued EU membership, is the shortage of highly experienced government trade negotiators.
Trade matters concerning Britain have for more than 40 years come under the remit of Brussels, where trade deals are negotiated for the whole of the 28-nation EU.
Downing Street said New Zealand and Canada are among other countries to have also offered the British government expertise, adding that it reflected support from countries around the world to make a success of Brexit.
Later this month, one of New Zealand's top trade negotiators will fly in to London to provide support for officials in the Department for International Trade.
Prime Minister May said: "We are going to make a success of Brexit and one way we will do that is by playing to Britain's strengths as a great trading nation and forging our own new trade deals around the world.
"We are building up the necessary expertise to go after these trade deals and here in China, I will be seizing the opportunity to talk to leaders from countries like Australia who have already made clear that they want to strike a deal once we have left the EU," said May.
"And we will continue to be a powerful advocate for trade, recognizing that with the right investment in training, skills and infrastructure, it can help us to build a fairer economy that works for all, not just the privileged few," added the British prime minister.
Downing Street said the prime minister's talks on trade with world leaders come ahead of the second meeting of the Cabinet committee on EU Exit and Trade which will meet later this week and focus on the government's trade policy, in particular the principles which should guide the British approach including further work to prioritize early free trade discussions.
Prior to joining the EU in the 1970s Australia and New Zealand were among Britain's major trading partners.
