The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Keir Starmer has arrived in Beijing for high-level talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping, marking the first official visit by a British leader to China in eight years.
The trip comes just two weeks after Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s own visit.
The two visits back-to-back underscores China’s growing role in reshaping Western trade and diplomatic relations.
Starmer, who took office in 2025, emphasized the strategic importance of engaging with China despite ongoing tensions over human rights and security.
The Prime Minister is accompanied by a delegation of nearly 60 British businesses and cultural organizations.
These include representatives from Airbus, AstraZeneca, and HSBC.
The UK government stressed that China remains Britain’s third-largest trading partner, making engagement essential for economic growth.
BBC News reported that Starmer’s delegation aims to “reset ties with Beijing through consistent, pragmatic partnership”.
Meanwhile, he hopes to be maintaining pressure on issues of democracy and rights.
Canada’s Strategic Recalibration
Starmer’s visit follows Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney’s four-day trip to Beijing earlier this month.
Carney described Canada’s engagement as a “strategic, pragmatic, and decisive recalibration” of relations.
Carney declared that the partnership “sets us up well for the new world order,” while emphasizing Canada’s independence from U.S. influence.
“Canada thrives because we are Canadian,” he said, rejecting President Trump’s assertion that “Canada lives because of the United States.”
However, Carney later clarified that Canada had no plans to sign a full trade deal with China, citing Trump’s tariff threats.
The U.S. President warned that “the last thing the world needs is to have China take over Canada,” escalating tensions between Washington and Ottawa.
Reuters highlighted that Carney’s visit was both a breakthrough in trade relations and a flashpoint in U.S.-Canada diplomacy.
