Starmer to visit China this week in bid to build bridges with Beijing

Sir Keir Starmer will travel to China on Tuesday for the first prime ministerial visit to the country in eight years, Downing Street has confirmed.

The Prime Minister will also fly to Japan this week, No 10 said.

The visit marks a significant moment in Sir Keir’s bid to build bridges with Beijing after a freeze in Sino-British relations in the final years of the Conservative government.

It comes after controversial plans to build a huge new Chinese embassy in London were approved by the Government last week.

Sir Keir is due to be accompanied by business leaders as he seeks to improve trading relations with the superpower on the trip, which is the first by a British prime minister since Baroness Theresa May’s visit in 2018.

Sir Keir faces pressure from home to raise several difficult subjects with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, including China’s espionage activity, the treatment of the Uighur minority and the imprisonment of Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner and British national.

A No 10 source the Government was determined to pursue a “hard-headed, grown-up” approach to its relationship with Beijing that “puts British families first”.

They added: “Sticking our heads in the sand and pretending China does not matter would be reckless, making Britain poorer and less secure.”

On Monday, security minister Dan Jarvis said the Government needs to “make the most of economic opportunities” when it comes to China.

He told the joint committee on the national security strategy: “Where there are areas where it is in our national interest to cooperate and work closely with them, then we will do so.

“But when it’s in our national security interest to safeguard against the threats that they pose, we will absolutely do that.

“I think that the public will understand that we do need to make the most of economic opportunities.

“But in terms of safeguarding our national security, that is always going to be a priority and we’ll always make sure that we’ve got the right tools and the right resources in place to guard against that particular threat.”