BRITISH finance minister George Osborne is planning to cut Britain’s corporation tax to less than 15 percent in an attempt to offset the shock to investors of the country’s decision to leave the European Union, the Financial Times reported Sunday.

    Osborne was also quoted as saying he would put more effort into Britain’s relationship with China and lead another trade visit later this year, after the shock referendum decision.

    He told the newspaper he wanted to build a “super competitive economy” with low business taxes and a global focus.

    In his most recent budget statement, announced in March, Osborne said he planned to cut the corporation tax to 17 percent by 2020, down from 20 percent now.

    Other elements of his plan to steer the economy through the upheaval caused by the Brexit vote included ensuring support for bank lending, intensifying efforts to direct investment to northern England and maintaining Britain’s fiscal credibility, the FT quoted him as saying.

    Last week, Osborne said he would no longer target a budget surplus in 2020 because of the expected hit to the economy from the referendum result, but he stressed he would continue to be tough on the deficit.

    The Brexit vote threatens to redefine Britain’s growing financial services relationship with China, which has agreed to a number of joint projects as part of the China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue program to deepen economic ties between the two countries, based largely on the United Kingdom’s membership of the EU.

    (SD-Agencies)