China key to growth - PM; CONFERENCE: Brown to urge closer ties with Far East.

Byline: Jon Griffin

GORDON Brown was today due to set out his hope that investment from China can drive the economic recovery in Britain.

The Prime Minister was due to say he wants to see "thousands" of Chinese firms working in the UK, rather than the current level of around 400.

In a speech to the CBI's annual conference, Mr Brown was also announcing he is hosting an international investment conference in London early next year as part of efforts to attract new money. "Today we have over 400 Chinese companies now operating in Britain," Mr Brown will say.

"In our new growth strategy, I want not just hundreds but thousands of Chinese companies in Britain and British companies in China.

"I know that we will soon sign new strategic partnerships with India. Trade relations with the US are strong.

"So we need an outward-facing Britain, attracting inward investment and sustaining high value added jobs."

Mr Brown is to reiterate that "going for growth" is the best way of tackling huge public debt from the credit crunch and recession, rather than the Tory approach of immediate spending cuts.

"Choking off recovery by turning off the life support for our economies prematurely would be fatal to British jobs, British growth and British prosperity for years," he will say. "So that's why we will continue with our current plans to support our economy until the private sector recovery is established, and we will ensure that nothing we do will jeopardise that recovery.

"Our strategy has to be to go for growth."