British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has begun a high-level visit to China to boost economic cooperation and encourage businesses to seize new opportunities.
Eight years is a long time in politics, and it has been eight years since a British prime minister stepped on Chinese soil,” Keir Starmer said on Wednesday (January 28) in Beijing while addressing more than 50 British business leaders traveling with him.
Starmer told the delegation they were “making history” and said the focus of the trip was to bring benefits back to people in the UK. He stressed that while Britain wants stronger trade ties with the world’s second-largest economy, it must also stay alert to possible security risks.
The prime minister’s visit is the first by a UK leader to China since 2018 and comes at a time when relations with the United States have become more uncertain. His approach to Beijing has drawn criticism from some politicians in Britain and the US, who are concerned about China’s global role and security issues.
Starmer is scheduled to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang as part of the visit. The talks are expected to focus on trade, investment and broader diplomatic relations.
In recent years, ties between London and Beijing have been strained over China’s actions in Hong Kong, its support for Russia in the Ukraine war and allegations by British security agencies that China has been spying on UK politicians and officials.
For China, the visit is seen as a chance to present itself as a stable and reliable partner at a time of growing global uncertainty.
“It doesn’t make sense to stick our head in the ground and bury it in the sand when it comes to China, it’s in our interests to engage,” Starmer told reporters earlier.
European and other Western countries have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy with China as they hedge against unpredictability from the United States under President Donald Trump.
Starmer’s trip follows tensions with Trump over his threats to seize Greenland, his criticism of Britain’s deal to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago – including an island with a U.S.-UK air base – to Mauritius, and his comments that NATO allies avoided front-line combat during the war in Afghanistan.
On Saturday, Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on Canadian goods if that country’s prime minister, Mark Carney, signed a trade deal with China.
The UK leader insisted Britain could continue to strengthen economic ties with China – without angering Trump – because of his country’s long history of working closely with the United States.
“The relationship we have with the U.S. is one of the closest relationships we hold, on defence, security, intelligence and also on trade and lots of areas,” he said.
Starmer was reluctant to be drawn on what he would discuss with Chinese leaders, or if he would bring up the fate of Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media tycoon who was convicted in December of national security crimes.
He also declined to say whether he would ask China to pressure Russia to end its war against Ukraine.
Asked if Britain and China could strike a deal that would allow more visa-free travel, Starmer said he hoped to make some “progress” in that area.
He also distanced himself from comments made by Carney last week about middle countries working together to avoid being victimised by American hegemony.
“I’m a pragmatist, a British pragmatist applying common sense,” Starmer said, rejecting the idea that his government must choose between the U.S. and Europe.
