LONDON, Jan 27 (Reuters) – Prime Minister Keir Starmer will fly to China on Tuesday on the primary go to by a British chief in eight years, in a bid to fix ties with the world’s second-largest financial system and scale back its dependence on an more and more unpredictable United States.
Starmer is the newest western chief to go to China, and his journey comes amid tensions between Britain and its longstanding closest ally – america – over President Donald Trump’s threats to take management of Greenland.
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On the forefront of the go to “will probably be what each side make of the present behaviour and posture of the U.S. and Trump,” mentioned Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese language research at King’s Faculty London. “One of many nice anomalies of the present scenario is that London might be nearer to Beijing than Washington” on some world points like AI, public well being and the atmosphere.
Since being elected in 2024, Starmer has made it one in every of his priorities to reset ties with China following a deterioration in relations beneath earlier governments due to rows over Beijing’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, a former British colony, and a number of allegations of espionage and cyberattacks.
BETTING ON CHINA TO BOOST BRITAIN’S ECONOMY
The go to provides China an opportunity to courtroom one other U.S. ally coping with Trump’s unstable commerce insurance policies following that of Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney this month when the 2 nations agreed an financial deal.
In response to Carney’s go to, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs – successfully an embargo – on all Canadian items and merchandise coming into the U.S. if it follows by means of on the China commerce deal.
Beijing could be a dependable associate for nations as a result of it advocates for a “multipolar world”, the Chinese language state-backed World Occasions newspaper mentioned on Monday.
However Western leaders have had combined outcomes from their latest visits. Whereas Carney struck a deal there that can slash tariffs on Chinese language electrical autos and Canadian canola oil, French President Emmanuel Macron’s go to in December yielded comparatively few financial advantages.
Britain needs nearer financial and commerce ties with China to assist Starmer honour his pledge to enhance dwelling requirements by means of funding in public providers and the financial system. However the technique has drawn fierce criticism from some British and U.S. politicians.
Within the 12 months to the center of 2025 China was Britain’s fourth-largest buying and selling associate, with commerce totalling about 100 billion kilos ($137 billion), in line with authorities knowledge.
Sam Goodman, a coverage director on the China Strategic Dangers Institute assume tank in London, mentioned Britain had up to now secured few financial good points from attempting to enhance relations with Beijing.
China solely accounts for 0.2% of overseas direct funding in Britain whereas america accounts for a few third, and Britain’s market share for items and providers with China fell within the final 12 months, he mentioned.
“We’ve had a whole lot of concentrated engagement with this authorities on China, and the actual query from this journey is what was it for?”, he mentioned. “Are there tangible outcomes that actually level to significant development within the British financial system?”
US WARNS CANADA OVER CHINA TIES
Starmer laid the foundations for his journey final month when he mentioned that China poses nationwide safety threats to Britain however that nearer enterprise ties had been within the nationwide curiosity.
The go to additionally comes at a delicate second for relations between Western leaders and america due to Trump’s claims that america must take management of Greenland as a result of China poses a menace within the Arctic.
($1 = 0.7303 kilos)
Further reporting by Ryan Woo; Enhancing by Hugh Lawson
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
