Officials said Prime Minister Starmer wants a ‘pragmatic’ approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy.
The UK’s Chancellor of the Exchequer is in China this weekend in a bid to boost economic and financial cooperation, as the Labour government seeks to reset ties with Beijing.
Rachel Reeves is seeking stability in the United Kingdom’s relationship with China and aiming to help grow Britain’s lacklustre economy, the Treasury said in a statement on Friday.
“The fiscal rules that I set out in my budget in October are non-negotiable and growth is the number one mission of this government to make our country better off,” Reeves told reporters during a visit to a bicycle shop in Beijing.
“That’s why I’m in China to unlock tangible benefits for British businesses exporting and trading around the world to ensure that we have greater access to the second-largest economy in the world.”
A focus of Reeves’ trip is reviving the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue, annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years.
The British side wants the dialogue to help bring down barriers that UK businesses face when looking to export or expand to China.
The talks were shelved after ties sourced following a series of spying allegations from both sides, China’s support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony.
Officials said that aside from discussing ways to deepen trade and cooperation, Reeves will also urge Beijing to stop its material and economic support for the Russian war effort in Ukraine and raise the issue of rights and freedoms in Hong Kong.
The delegation includes Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the CEOs of the UK Financial Conduct Authority and the London Stock Exchange Group.
Senior executives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms, including the group chairmen of HSBC and Standard Chartered, are also on board.
While in Beijing, Reeves is expected to visit leading UK brands operating in China, including Jaguar Land Rover, whisky distributor Diageo and bicycle maker Brompton.
Her visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil in November.
The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the UK’s fourth-largest single trading partner according to the Treasury.
Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy.
But some in the opposition Conservative Party have criticised his stance and said trade ties should not come at the expense of national security and human rights concerns.
British political leaders and intelligence chiefs have warned repeatedly of the security threats that China poses.
Calls to tackle the challenge grew louder last month when it emerged that an alleged Chinese spy had cultivated close ties with Prince Andrew and carried out “covert and deceptive activity” for China’s ruling Communist Party, according to officials.
Nevertheless, Lammy told reporters in London on Thursday that “there are many areas of trade that don’t impact on national security.”
He said Reeves “will repeat many of the messages that I took to China.”
