BP will sign a deal worth more than £5bn to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to China and Royal Dutch Shell will announce a global alliance with Chinese state energy giant Cnooc on Tuesday, according to people familiar with the matter.
The deals form the centrepiece of a series of trade agreements during a three-day visit to the UK by Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang. Both are to be unveiled as David Cameron hosts Mr Li in Downing Street.
But the trade deals being signed on Tuesday come against a backdrop of continuing unease in the political relationship between London and Beijing, with Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, speaking of the “very large-scale abuse of human rights that still continues” in China.