China’s investments in the UK’s nuclear energy sector are not a national security risk, the head of the country’s leading trade body has argued, as long as Beijing-linked firms are not involved in running power plants.

Tom Greatrex, chief executive of the Nuclear Industry Association, told City A.M. he did not see any issues with state-backed China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) owning a one-third stake in under-construction power plant Hinkley Point C.

“It doesn’t necessarily follow that involvement from China would create security concerns,” he said, while acknowledging any geopolitical issues were “way above my pay grade”.

In his view, Chinese companies owning stakes in projects were only a problem if they had strategic roles in power plants.