The UK and China are expected to agree to a new border security partnership aimed at disrupting the supply of small boats and engines manufactured in China and exploited by people smuggling gangs operating across the English Channel.
Britain and China are set to sign a new border security deal targeting the supply chains used by people smugglers, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer visits Beijing on his first trip to China since taking office and the first by a British prime minister in eight years.
According to a UK government press release published on Wednesday (January 28), over 60 percent of engines used in small boats crossing the English Channel are manufactured in China. Inflatable dinghies, often made using parts sourced in China, have enabled smugglers to carry large numbers of people, sometimes more than 100 at a time, in dangerous conditions.
The agreement, to be signed later today following meetings between Starmer, President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, will for the first time allow joint UK-Chinese law enforcement action before boats and engines reach criminal networks in Europe.
Targeting smuggling equipment at its source
Under the deal, UK law enforcement agencies will work with Chinese authorities to prevent small boat engines and other equipment from reaching organized crime groups, according to Downing Street. This will include intelligence sharing to identify supply routes and direct engagement with Chinese manufacturers to prevent legitimate businesses from being exploited.
"Organized immigration crime and the business model of the smuggling gangs goes beyond borders and our approach to shut them down must do the same," Starmer said. "This deal will help us cut off the supply of boats at source, stopping crossings before lives are put at risk and restoring control to our borders… delivering real results for the British people through our international relationships."
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'Preventing legitimate companies being drawn into criminality'
The UK hopes that the agreement also strengthens cooperation on serious and organized crime, including a joint crackdown on the production and trafficking of synthetic opioids.
Rick Jones, Deputy Director at the National Crime Agency, declared: "Targeting and disrupting the business models of people smuggling gangs is a top priority for the NCA (National Crime Agency)…This agreement will enable us to work with Chinese law enforcement to tackle those gangs who exploit the most vulnerable, and prevent legitimate companies being drawn into this criminality."
A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the Channel on a small boat, according to the Home Office. This marks the second-highest annual figure on record.
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UK, Bulgaria crack down on EU-Turkish border over Channel smuggling equipment
The UK government says the deal builds on existing agreements with countries including France, Germany, Iraq and several Western Balkan states, as it looks to intensify international action against migrant smuggling networks.
In late 2022, British authorities reached out to Bulgaria to step up efforts to curtail the entry into the EU of small boats used for irregular journeys across the English Channel from France to the UK.
Lifejackets, rubber boats and various types of equipment used by migrants and people smugglers to cross the Channel are being transported via the EU's external border between Bulgaria and Turkey, the Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported in April 2024.
In response to the UK's request, Bulgaria seized 52 motors, 49 rubber boats, 755 hand pumps and 110 life jackets in a little over a year from mostly Turkish trucks traveling to western Europe via Bulgaria's Kapitan Andreevo border post, one of Europe's busiest, according to AFP.
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