British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on January 29 in Beijing, marking a significant attempt to deepen economic ties between the two nations after years of strained relations. The meeting, scheduled for 40 minutes at the Great Hall of the People, will be followed by a working lunch, as part of the most important day of Starmer’s four-day visit to China.
Ahead of the summit with President Xi, Starmer will hold meetings on January 28 with Premier Li Qiang and China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji. The visits signal London’s renewed focus on strengthening its relationship with Beijing, with the centre-left Labour government keen to unlock new business opportunities amid a challenging domestic economic environment.
“This must look like it’s been a success,” said Dr. Kerry Brown, professor of Chinese studies at King’s College London. “For both sides, they don’t want a meeting which is going to be arguing about things they disagree on.” Analysts expect a number of economic deals to be announced during the visit, highlighting progress in bilateral relations.
Starmer’s trip comes at a time of growing diplomatic uncertainty in the West. Relations between Britain and its longstanding ally, the United States, have been tested by President Donald Trump’s recent remarks, including his threat to take control of Greenland. European and other Western countries have engaged in active diplomacy with China, partly as a hedge against unpredictability from Washington. Starmer’s visit immediately follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s trip, during which he signed a deal with Beijing to remove trade barriers, a move that drew criticism from Trump.
China, for its part, has framed the visit as a “pivotal moment” in bilateral ties. State-run Xinhua News Agency noted on January 28 that Beijing sees the engagement as an opportunity to “enhance political mutual trust with Britain, deepen practical cooperation… and together make due efforts and contributions to world peace, security and stability.”
Starmer has adopted a more engagement-focused approach toward China, departing from the cautious stance of previous Conservative governments, which restricted some Chinese investment over national security concerns and criticized Beijing’s crackdown on political freedoms in Hong Kong. Upon arrival in China on January 28, Starmer met with business leaders and called for a “mature” relationship between the UK and the world’s second-largest economy.
In a lighter moment of his visit, Starmer dined at a local restaurant known for its mushroom dishes, where he learned to pronounce “xie xie” (“thank you” in Mandarin) while posing for photos with staff—a nod to diplomatic courtesy that drew attention on Chinese social media.
While the visit will highlight economic cooperation, Downing Street confirmed that the two leaders will announce a joint effort to combat gangs involved in migrant trafficking. The agreement will target the use of Chinese-made engines in small boats used to transport people across Europe and will involve sharing intelligence and working with Chinese manufacturers to prevent exploitation by organised crime.
Starmer also indicated that he would raise human rights issues, including the case of Jimmy Lai, the former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen convicted in December under the national security law. However, the presence of over 50 business leaders on the trip underscores the primacy of economic objectives. “Everything you’re doing here, everything I’m doing here is focused on how do we benefit people at home,” Starmer told business representatives on January 28.
The visit, the first by a British prime minister since 2018, represents a delicate balancing act: strengthening economic engagement with China while navigating complex geopolitical pressures from traditional allies and addressing sensitive human rights concerns.
