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00:59

Britain's government gave approval on Tuesday for China to build its largest embassy in Europe in London.

The government said after the decision that intelligence agencies were involved throughout the approval process.

Resetting relations with Beijing is one of the foreign policy priorities for Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who said last month that closer business ties were in the national interest.

Royal Mint Court, the proposed site of China's planned embassy. /Jack Taylor/Reuters

The new embassy would be one of the largest diplomatic outposts in the world with a footprint of about 55,000 square meters, according to the planning application.

That is almost 10 times the size of China's current embassy in central London and considerably bigger than its embassy in the United States.

The approval was subject to a number of technical conditions including construction methods, access and environmental impact.

Royal Mint Court was from the early 19th century until 1967 the site of the coin-producing Royal Mint, which has since moved to Llantrisant in south Wales.

Source(s): Reuters

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UK approves China plan for its largest embassy in Europe