Peter Thompson, Director of Infrastructure and East Asia Energy Business Leader, met UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper during her visit to Shenzhen as part of the 11th China-UK Strategic Dialogue — the most significant diplomatic engagement between both nations in years.
The Foreign Secretary's visit follows Prime Minister Keir Starmer's landmark trip to Beijing in January, where both governments reaffirmed their commitment to a "long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership." Together, these visits signal a clear reset in the Sino-UK relationship, with energy, climate and green development at its centre.
Peter was invited to discuss Arup's ongoing energy work in China and the firm's collaboration with Chinese state-owned enterprises in the UK — through mutual exchanges that both governments are keen to champion.
Arup's energy presence in China and East Asia
Arup has been active in China for more than 40 years, with offices in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou. Over time, the firm has grown alongside China's rapid urbanisation, delivering iconic infrastructure while deepening its commitment to the country's "dual carbon" goals of peaking emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060.
In the energy sector, Arup brings over 30 years of global offshore energy infrastructure experience, providing owner’s engineer services, technical due diligence, foundation design, and digital solutions for wind farms across Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, while also working with offshore wind turbine suppliers and EPC contractors based in Shanghai to support projects delivered in Europe.
In hydrogen and Power-to-X, Arup advises on midstream infrastructure, including pipeline networks connecting China’s vast western renewable resources to eastern industrial demand centres, and the firm also delivers battery energy storage systems for clients such as CLP in Hong Kong, alongside providing technical advisory and due diligence services for waste-to-energy facilities worldwide to support the delivery of low-carbon waste management infrastructure.
Arup has been actively supporting Chinese enterprises investing in energy projects overseas, including offshore wind in Europe, data centres in Southeast Asia, and renewable energy projects across emerging markets.
Peter Thompson, Director of Infrastructure and East Asia Energy Business Leader at Arup, said: "The renewed commitment between the UK and China to cooperate on energy and climate is a powerful signal, not just for governments, but for the businesses working at the coalface of the energy transition. At Arup, we’ve spent more than four decades building trusted relationships in China, and we see enormous potential in partnerships that bring together Chinese scale and ambition with British engineering expertise. That’s how we deliver real, low-carbon outcomes for both nations."
As both countries look to accelerate their energy transitions, Arup remains committed to bridging markets, sharing expertise and delivering the infrastructure that serves both countries, and is optimistic about this new chapter in UK-China relations.
