In recent years, there has been a lot of news of Chinese companies acquiring European and American companies, but last Monday (November 11, 2019), Chinese steel producer Jingye Group agreed to buy British Steel, which is still an important financial news in the world's major media. British Steel is overshadowed by the good news, with workers and unions delighted and optimistic that the new parent company will inject more than £1bn into the struggling company, preserving 4,000 jobs at British Steel and 20,000 jobs along the supply chain.

The previously little-known company has made huge promises to turn the plant around by renewing its blast furnaces, expanding production and perhaps increasing its headcount.

In Britain, it's not just British Steel workers who are happy, but everyone, including Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom.

But in some sectors of the UK, some economists and entrepreneurs in the UK, are scratching their heads: Why does the previously unknown Chinese Jingye Group think it can succeed when other globally known interested companies are uncertain that they can save British Steel?

Indeed, the £1.2 billion investment committed by Dedicated Group dwarfs the £20 million that the previous company, private company Greybull Capital, is expected to put into British Steel.

The British government has preferred to talk to Ataer Holdings, a subsidiary of Turkey's military pension fund (OYAK), which has said it will inject huge investments. More British politicians, entrepreneurs, economists are clearly inclined to believe that the bids of Turkish companies are undoubtedly the best. At least Attar Holdings is better than Jingye Group's.

The official version of Jingye Group's explanation is that the acquisition of British Steel is to achieve business complementarity. The businesses of the two companies are indeed complementary. British Steel is a specialist in the production of railroad tracks and other "long products" such as steel bars for construction, which China Jingye Group does not produce. British Steel can bring new products and new markets to Career.

However, the Data Research Bureau believes that changing Jingye Group's steel product "Made in China" to "Made in Britain" should be the real reason for Jingye Group's acquisition decision. Because Chinese steel is not popular all over the world.

In fact, in 2016, it was the influx of excess Chinese steel products into the UK that brought the British steel industry to the brink of death. Since then, the EU has adopted tough anti-dumping measures and imposed tariffs on steel imports from China, giving the EU's steel manufacturing industry a certain degree of protection.

Some industry watchers in Europe have suggested that British Steel and British Steel's plant in Ayange, France, should allow dedicated workers to export raw Chinese steel to the UK, process it into higher-value products, and label it "Made in England" or "Made in France."