Keir Starmer hailed the economic benefits of resetting relations with China during a visit to Beijing – the first by a British prime minister in eight years. Starmer said bilateral meetings with China’s president, Xi Jinping, and its premier, Li Qiang, ‘made some real progress’, and announced the halving of tariffs on whisky and visa-free travel to China for British citizens. It comes after Donald Trump warned the UK against doing business with China The Guardian
Tag: UK news
AstraZeneca to invest £11bn in China after rowing back on UK expansion
Britain’s biggest drugmaker AstraZeneca is to invest $15bn (£11bn) in China, it announced during Keir Starmer’s visit to the country, just months after cooling on plans for expansion in the UK. The Cambridge-based company said it would spend the money by 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and research and development in China, where it already has a big presence. It includes the construction of a $2.5bn research hub in Beijing, which was announced last March. During the first visit by a British prime minister to China in eight years, Starmer…
Keir Starmer opens door to UK visit by Xi Jinping after bilateral talks
Keir Starmer has taken a big step towards rapprochement with China, opening the door to a UK visit from Xi Jinping in a move that drew immediate anger from British critics of Beijing. During the first visit by a UK prime minister to China in eight years – a period which Starmer has described as an “ice age” – he said talks with the Chinese president had left the bilateral relationship in a stronger position. While Starmer and his team were flaunting the results of the trip – including a…
What agreements have been made during Starmer’s trip to China?
Keir Starmer will be pleased that he has secured several agreements to mark his visit to Beijing and by the warm tone of President Xi Jinping’s remarks about his government. However, No 10’s announcements do not put a figure on the value of the deals, and there does not appear to be a big bundle of investments worth billions by Chinese or British firms, which prime ministers have usually tended to hold up as a sign of success. These are the agreements secured by the UK so far. Visa-free travel…
Xi didn’t really see a point to Kier’s visit – but hey, let a hundred flowers bloom | John Crace
Let’s face it, this was never going to be a meeting of equals. Keir Starmer had been desperate to squeeze in a trip to China for some time. Another country to tick off his list and he always feels a lot better about himself when he’s abroad. Less noise from his unhappy MPs. Plus he loved the pomp and ceremony that came with it. The large flags. The military bands. A country that treated him with respect. Almost. Besides, Mark Carney and Emmanuel Macron had both made recent trips. He…
Chinese state media views Starmer’s visit as act of economic pragmatism
Keir Starmer’s visit to Beijing has been cautiously welcomed by Chinese state media as an act of economic pragmatism by a beleaguered British prime minister. The presence of 50 business and cultural leaders with Starmer, who is the first British prime minister to visit China in eight years, was taken as a sign that the UK was prioritising its ailing economy over political considerations. The reported refusal of Starmer to confirm that he would be seen to pressure President Xi Jinping over his relationship with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin,…
What happened when Starmer met Xi Jinping? – podcast
Keir Starmer held talks with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping this week and proclaimed Britain should have a more ‘sophisticated’ relationship with China. Pippa Crerar, who was with the prime minister on the trip, tells Kiran Stacey what all this means The Guardian
Starmer-Xi meeting live: UK prime minister says he wants ‘more sophisticated’ relationship with China
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UK probably needs large new factory to meet target of 1.3m cars a year, say industry boss
A target of building 1.3m cars a year is likely to be missed unless a large new UK factory is built in the coming years, an industry group has said, as Keir Starmer prepares to hold trade talks in China. Labour aims to have 1.3m vehicles rolling off production lines by 2035, a central ambition of its industrial strategy. That would nearly double the 764,715 cars and vans made in 2025, according to new data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). UK vehicle production slumped 15.5% in…
Keir Starmer to hold talks with Xi to bolster economic ties with China
Keir Starmer will meet the Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday for historic talks he hopes will deepen economic ties at a time when some inside government fear the US is no longer a reliable partner. The prime minister – the first UK leader to visit China in eight years – will hold a 40-minute meeting with Xi at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing before a number of cultural and business receptions. On the flight to Beijing, Starmer told journalists he wanted to bring “stability and clarity”…