Chinese firms snapped up nearly £6billion of cut-price British business in the pandemic

CHINESE firms bought nearly £6billion of cut-price British businesses in the pandemic.

They now own £130billion in assets — from power stations to pubs, to schools.

The total number of Chinese-owned companies rose to 15,000 in 2021, from 13,000 last year.

Chinese businesses in the UK with annual revenue of at least £5million rose to 838 in 2020, up from 795 the year before.

Takeovers include a £4.2billion deal for waste resources firm ­Viridor by China Resources Group and a £1billion sum for video games developer Sumo Group.

And more than 28,000 students from China applied to study in the UK last year — topping the EU cohort for the first time.

The influx of Chinese ownership in business has sparked fears of an impact on national security.

Tory MP Nusrat Ghani said: “It is already clear that China is increasing its foothold in strategic infrastructure projects.

"The Government needs to use its provisions to protect national security.”

US bidders have also been eyeing British businesses such as Morrisons and AA.