Britain approves ‘mega’ Chinese embassy in London despite national security fears

London (CNN) — Britain’s government has green-lit plans for China to build a “mega” embassy close to London’s financial district, despite warnings from lawmakers, residents and Chinese dissidents-in-exile that the sprawling complex could pose security risks.

China bought the site at Royal Mint Court, where Britain used to strike coins, for around $312 million in 2018. But a decision on the plans for the new 20,000 square-meter (215,000 square-foot) embassy – which would become China’s largest diplomatic outpost in Europe – was delayed three times before the government granted approval on Tuesday.

The delays are a measure of the British government’s uncertainty about its approach to China. Britain wants China’s money and diplomatic goodwill, but has long been wary about allowing Beijing to build an embassy that would sit near fiber-optic cables carrying sensitive data for financial firms, and which some fear could be used to spy on Chinese nationals living in London.

The planning decision, a 240-page document, concluded that “the proposal complies with the development plan when taken as a whole,” and as such “planning permission and listed building consent should be granted.”

Days before the government’s approval, the Telegraph, a British newspaper, published what it said were unredacted plans showing that China intends to build a complex of 208 rooms underneath the embassy. One of the rooms, the paper said, would sit directly alongside and only a few feet away from fiber-optic cables that carry millions of British people’s email traffic and financial data.

Alicia Kearns, the shadow national security minister for the opposition Conservative Party, warned last week that, if granted, the plans “would give the Chinese Communist Party a launchpad for economic warfare against our nation” and “create a daily headache for our security services.”

MI5, Britain’s domestic spy service, has not raised any formal objection to the embassy plans, despite warning about broader threats from China. After his annual threat update in October, Ken McCallum, the head of the agency, told reporters: “Do Chinese state actors present a UK national security threat? The answer is, of course, yes they do, every day.”

MI5 also issued a rare alert in November, warning lawmakers that China’s intelligence services are using LinkedIn to pose as recruiters to target people who work in Parliament. The Chinese embassy in London dismissed the claim as “malicious slander.”

Britain’s decision may have been influenced by the fact that it needs China’s approval to revamp its own embassy in Beijing. China has reportedly stalled the British plans while seeking the go-ahead for its new London embassy, which will allow it to move from its current outpost near Regent’s Park.

But Britain also feared that denying China permission to build its new embassy could harm trade relations between the two countries. In dire need of good economic news, Keir Starmer – the first British prime minister in six years to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping – called in 2024 for a “consistent, durable, respectful” relationship with China and greater business cooperation between the two countries.

The economic record has, however, been mixed. China was Britain’s fourth largest trading partner in the four quarters to the end of Q2 2025, accounting for 5.5% of total British trade, but British exports of goods to China decreased by 23% over that same period, official figures show – a fall highlighted by Kearns.

“Surrendering our security for Chinese trade was always a bad policy, but surrendering our security while exports plummet is, frankly, insanity,” she told parliament.

Xi had taken a personal interest in the new embassy, raising the matter directly with Starmer during their first phone call in 2024. After the discussion, Starmer “called in” the planning application from the local council, which had denied permission in 2022, giving the government the final say over the project. A spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry also warned that, if permission was denied, Britain “shall bear all consequences.”

Plans for the new embassy have also alarmed Chinese nationals, including Hong Kongers and pro-democracy campaigners living in London. Carmen Lau, an activist with the Hong Kong Democracy Council who fled to London in 2021, told CNN last year that she feared the embassy could be used to spy on and harass opponents of China’s government living in exile.

The Hong Kong Police Force has charged Lau with secession and collusion with a foreign government and issued an arrest warrant for her, later offering a reward of $1 million Hong Kong dollars (about $128,000) to anyone who can provide information about her “or take her to the Chinese embassy.”

Last year, spokespeople for the Chinese embassy said they “deplored” Britain’s repeated postponement of the decision, accusing the UK of showing “a total lack of the spirit of contract.”

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CNN’s Salma Abdelaziz and Sophie Tanno contributed reporting.