Britain’s investment minister said on Monday he was working to get Chinese carmakers to build a factory in the country and that investment from China was key to meeting environmental targets.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s appointment of former British leader David Cameron as foreign secretary earlier this month raised concerns among some lawmakers in his Conservative party about its implications for the government’s approach to China.

As Prime Minister, David Cameron announced a “golden age” in relations with China in 2015, which Sunak said had ended.

At a foreign direct investment summit at Hampton Court Palace on Monday, British investment minister Dominic Johnson said trade discussions could be accompanied by political disagreements.

“Chinese investment is essential if we are to meet our net greenhouse gas emissions targets.” […]. “I support strong business collaboration between the UK and China when it comes to investing in each other’s countries,” Johnson told reporters, adding that he preferred Chinese cars to be made in Britain rather than imported.

“Of course, I have ambitions to try to attract a Chinese car manufacturer.

Sunak reiterated his position that it was possible to work with China in some areas while protecting British interests in other particularly sensitive areas.

The UK is reviewing implementation of its recently introduced National Security and Investment (NSI) Act, which has disproportionately blocked China-backed deals.

Johnson said he was concerned the law created a “sense of friction” but it had only been used to intervene in a small number of transactions, adding it was right to have protection.

Britain has announced several investments in the automotive sector this year, including a new Tata gigafactory and investments from Nissan.

Asked about the progress of negotiations with the European Union to resolve tariffs on rules of origin that come into force for carmakers next year, Johnson said “unfortunately not.”

“We have been very clear that we need to work with our European partners to not get caught up in rules of origin omelettes, which is not helpful for both sides,” he said. “We want to achieve reasonable and pragmatic outcomes to help our car manufacturers. (Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Alex Richardson)