Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which individuals accompanied Mark Thurston, Chief Executive of HS2 Ltd, on his visit to Beijing in April 2018.

Mark Thurston did not visit Beijing in April 2018. On 10 April 2019 Mark Thurston met representatives of the National Development & Reform Commission (NDRC) along with the HM Trade Commissioner to China. On 11 April 2019 Mark Thurston was accompanied by Department for International Trade officials to a round table meeting with NDRC and key Chinese rail companies. The purpose of the visit was to gather international best practice of core elements of High Speed Rail projects, such as station design, maintenance and operational processes.