By William James
LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will not announce her keenly awaited decision on a partly-Chinese funded nuclear power project in the coming days, a British official said on Saturday as May flew to China to meet President Xi Jinping at her first G20 summit.
May will make her major international summit debut on Sunday after Britain's shock vote in June to leave the European Union ousted her predecessor David Cameron and thrust her into control of the world's fifth-largest economy.
She will use the meeting to try to persuade international partners that post-Brexit Britain will remain "open for business" and a champion of global free trade, the official said, in a bid to allay concerns of a more isolationist outlook.
But despite scheduling a 30-minute meeting with Xi on Monday to discuss the two countries' future ties, May will stop short of sanctioning a Chinese-backed $24-billion (18 billion pounds) plan for French firm EDF (PA:EDF) to build a nuclear power plant in southern England.
"We have said we'll make a decision this month, that remains the plan. I don't expect one in the next few days," the official told reporters ahead of the visit.
The project is seen as a key test of May's attitude to Chinese investment in Britain after she upset Beijing by putting the deal on hold in July amid reports she was concerned the plan could harm national security.
Before May became prime minister in July, Britain had expended huge diplomatic energy courting Chinese investors to finance billions of pounds of infrastructure projects, described by Xi as a "Golden Era" of relations between the two countries.
The Hinkley Point project is seen as the frontrunner to closer ties with China on nuclear issues, paving the way for tens of billions of dollars of investment and another two nuclear power plants with Chinese involvement.
The official said whatever the final decision on Hinkley was, it should not be over-interpreted as a guide to May's future trade and investment decisions.
"I'm not sure that when you look around the world at all the UK's partners that we are defined solely by one energy project," the official said.
OBAMA, PUTIN
British ministers have spent the months following the surprise 52-48 percent vote to leave the 28-country EU scrambling to work out an exit strategy that will avoid long term damage to the economy and the country's global influence.
Rather than meet the European leaders with whom she will lock horns with over the coming years to define Britain's future ties to the EU, May will focus her attention in Hangzhou on courting non-EU countries with an eye on future trade deals.
She will meet U.S. President Barack Obama on Sunday and India's Narendra Modi on Monday, as well as making a lengthy address to all G20 nations during a trade-focused summit session, stating that Britain remains outward looking and economically strong.
"The prime minister will want to look at how we look to the future and now start planning for those relationships once the UK has left the European Union," the official said, adding that May would reiterate her intention not to trigger the formal 'Article 50' EU exit process this year.
May will also use the summit, including a one-to-one meeting with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, to stress that Brexit does not mean Britain will withdraw from its role in world affairs.
"It's a real opportunity for the prime minister to send a clear message to the world's largest economies that Britain will continue to play a bold, confident and outward looking role," the official said.
"We will continue to be a strong and dependable partner working with others to tackle the issues and challenges that countries around the world face."
($1 = 0.7505 pounds)