The British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and Chinese President Xi Jinping, welcomed on Thursday a renewal of relations, pledging to build an economic partnership with agreements that include a substantial investment from AstraZeneca that, they say, will benefit both countries.
On the most important day of his four-day visit to China, the first by a British prime minister in eight years, Starmer spent about three hours with Xi in a formal summit and a luncheon, during which the two also discussed football and Shakespeare.
Starmer is the latest Western leader to visit China as nations shield themselves against the unpredictability of U.S. President Donald Trump. Thursday’s talks also included security issues, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and human rights.
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The British prime minister unveiled AstraZeneca’s plan to develop new medicines, investing US$15 billion in its operations in China, as evidence of the benefits they could bring to both countries.
But he also said that closer ties would allow the United Kingdom to engage in a “frank dialogue” when there are disagreements.
Starmer, whose center-left Labour government has struggled to fulfil its promise of economic growth, has made strengthening relations with the world’s second-largest economy a priority, despite questions about espionage and human rights.
“China is a vital actor on the global stage, and it is essential that we build a more sophisticated relationship in which we can identify opportunities for collaboration, but, of course, also allow meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree,” Starmer told Xi at the start of the meeting.
Xi said that relations with the United Kingdom had undergone “twists and turns” that did not serve the interests of either country, and that China is ready to develop a long-term partnership.
“We can achieve a result that will stand the test of history,” Xi told Starmer, flanked by his top ministers, at the summit held in the Great Hall of the People.
Starmer’s visit comes amid intermittent threats by Trump of tariffs and promises to take control of Greenland, an autonomous territory of Denmark, which unsettled long-standing US allies, such as the United Kingdom.
He follows the Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, who signed this month an economic agreement with Beijing to remove trade barriers, provoking Trump’s ire.
The British leader told reporters that he had made progress in talks with Beijing to lower tariffs on whisky and announced a new agreement under which Britons visiting China for less than 30 days would no longer need a visa.
“The relationship is in a good moment, a strong moment,” said Starmer, who is accompanied by more than 50 business leaders on the trip.
