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'Remain' camp moves ahead in EU campaign
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Category：Current Affairs
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Subject：People and society ; Science, education, culture and sports
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Source：China Daily
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Publish Date：06-23-2016
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Britons are edging closer to voting in favor of remaining in the European Union in Thursday's referendum, a result that would please many of the UK's closest allies.
An opinion poll carried out before the referendum by The Daily Telegraph — a consistent supporter of leaving the EU — showed that of those who say they will definitely vote, the Remain campaign is leading with 53 percent, against 46 percent for the Leave campaign.
The Remain campaign is headed by Prime Minister David Cameron, while the Leave campaign is headed by former London mayor Boris Johnson and Secretary of State for Justice Michael Gove.
Many other polls in recent days have shown the Remain camp easing ahead, although many commentators in Britain are saying the result is still too close to call.
UK betting company Ladbrokes said that based on the bets being placed, it is forecasting a 78 percent chance of remaining, with only a 22 percent chance of leaving.
Ladbrokes correctly forecast the result of last year's general election, which saw a surprise clear majority for Cameron's Conservative Party, despite opinion polls having predicted either a loss or a hung parliament, with no single party in power.
Much hangs on this vote. In China, Juwai.com, an international property portal, said a survey showed 51 percent of the 411 respondents said they had temporarily put on hold property transactions in the UK pending the outcome. Only 25 percent said they intended completing deals before the vote.
"The overall picture here is one of uncertainty," the site's UK head Bernie Morris said.
JLL, a global real estate services company, said its survey of 100 companies showed a similar trend, with 45 percent of investors questioned saying they would adopt a wait-and-see attitude.
Many of Britain's allies, including China, would be expected to welcome a decision to stay in the EU.
Chinese official pronouncements have been cautious. President Xi Jinping reportedly indicated to Cameron during a state visit to the UK in October that China would prefer Britain to remain in the EU. This was later backed up by a Foreign Ministry statement.
During Xi's visit, deals worth 40 billion pounds ($58.73 billion) were announced with Chinese companies.
US President Barack Obama says he would prefer the UK to remain in the EU, as would major European players such as France and Germany.
Li Ka-shing, one of the richest men in Asia, told Bloomberg Television on Tuesday he was urging Britons to vote to remain, because a decision to leave would cause "great damage to the country and the EU".
He said a vote to leave would not be the end of the world, but as a major investor in the UK, he would continue to maintain his business interests in the country, as well as Europe in general.
Bloomberg reported earlier remarks by Li, in which he said he did not believe Britain would vote to leave, but if it did, he would consider reducing his investment there.
Li has a fortune of $28.6 billion, according to both Forbes and the Bloomberg Billionaires List, making him the third-richest man in Asia.
Many Chinese companies operating in the UK see the country as a bridgehead into Europe, a function that would suffer in the event of a vote to leave the EU.
This view is supported by Yao Lin, deputy director of a research center supervised by China's Ministry of Commerce.
Yao warned in a paper that many Chinese companies investing in Britain as a way into the EU single market would see the "bridgehead curtailed'' in the event of a vote to leave.
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