– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on June 19, Monday.
London and Brussels are kicking off negotiations to define how the U.K. will leave the bloc on Monday and uncertainty is the dominant factor.
It is not yet clear whether the U.K. will seek to keep some access to the EU's single market or its customs union or if both will manage to draft a new trade deal, among other big question marks.
Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her vision of a hard Brexit in January, saying she wanted Britain to be able to make its own trade deals while maintaining trade with Europe that was as "frictionless as possible". However, as her party failed to secure majority seats in the parliment during the snap election and is now forced to form a coalition government with the Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party, her stand on Brexit strategies is bringing more uncertainties.
Meanwhile, another poll has found Labour voters overwhelmingly support the softest possible deal.
Some 69 per cent of people were against Britain leaving the EU customs union - a key issue in the talks.
It comes amid speculation over increasing tension among the Prime Minister's cabinet over Brexit.
Meanwhile, the European Parliament's representative on Brexit has stepped up pressure on the U.K. government to make its position more clear before negotiations kickoff.
The first big question asks whether the government led by Prime Minister Theresa May will leave the single market or will it adopt a softer approach.
Prime Minister May has come under pressure to seek a soft Brexit after losing her parliamentary majority. The outcome of the election might force her to seek a cross-party political consensus to agree on how the U.K. will leave the European Union. As a result, she might try to keep some sort of access to the single market.
And the EU reiterated that it is ready to negotiate.
[PASCHAL DONOHOE, Irish Finance Minister] "We see our future being an open future and a future has an exceptionally strong European dimension flash"
[JOHAN VAN OVERTVELDT, Finance Minister of Belgium] "I'm very calm about this. Absolutely not nervous."
[PIERRE GRAMEGNA, Finance Minister of Luxembourg] "THE ISSUE IS NOT ABOUT HAVING A SOFT BREXIT OR HARD BREXIT. IT'S ABOUT HAVING A FAIR BREXIT"
In April, the IMF warned that the unpredictability surrounding Brexit poses a risk to global financial stability.
It forecasts that the U.K. economy would expand 2 percent in 2017, before gross domestic product declines to 1.5 percent in 2018. A predictable exit from the European Union would be better for the U.K. economy than a "crash situation", the IMF's Christine Lagarde told CNBC.
However, the institution is unable to calculate precisely how the British economy will suffer from Brexit because it has still to define its future arrangements with the EU.
[LAGARDE, IMF] "CLEARLY WHAT IS MORE PREDICTABLE MORE CERTAIN CAN BE CALIBRATED CAN BE ANTICIPATED CAN BE TRANSITIONED TO IS GOING TO BE, MORE RELIABLE AND SAFER FOR THE PEOPLE AND FOR THE ECONOMY. WE NEED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE TERMS UNDER WHICH THIS EXIT IS GOING TO TAKE PLACE FOR US TO REALLY FORECAST THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GOING FORWARD, AND THAT'S VERY PREMATURE FOR US AT THE MOMENT."
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.