"We wouldn't put it in the press release if it wasn't true"

Today we're factchecking the Today Programme claim that Chinese investment to the UK has been greater in the past 18 months than the past 30 years combined. It's been said repeatedly in the media and by the government itself.

Factchecking almost always starts by going to the claimant and asking for their source. But when we got in touch with UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) this morning, they told Full Fact it would take too long to trace the origin again, and that we should simply attribute them as the source.

They added it was an unusual request for them to get, and that:

"we wouldn't put it in the press release if it wasn't true".

We'll see.