Britain's Starmer seeks to bolster China ties despite Trump warning

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Friday (30 January) that the UK has a "huge amount to offer" China, after his attempts to forge closer ties prompted warnings from US President Donald Trump.

The first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years, Starmer's trip follows in the footsteps of other Western leaders looking to counter an increasingly volatile United States.

Leaders from France, Canada and Finland have flocked to Beijing in recent weeks, recoiling from Trump's bid to seize Greenland and tariff threats against Nato allies.

When asked by reporters about Britain "getting into business" with China, Trump warned it was "very dangerous for them to do that".

Starmer met top Chinese leaders, including Xi Jinping and Premier Li Qiang, on Thursday, with both sides highlighting the need for closer ties.

The British leader told business representatives from the UK and China on Friday morning that both sides had "warmly engaged" and "made some real progress".

"The UK has got a huge amount to offer," he said in a short speech at the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China.

The meetings the previous day provided "just the level of engagement that we hoped for", Starmer said.

He signed a series of agreements on Thursday, with Beijing allowing visa-free travel for British passport holders visiting China for under 30 days.

Starmer hailed the agreements as "symbolic of what we're doing with the relationship".

He will travel to economic powerhouse Shanghai in the afternoon and continue his Asia trip with a brief stop in Japan to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Visas and whisky

The new visa deal brings Britain in line with about 50 other countries granted visa-free travel, including France, Germany, Australia and Japan, and follows a similar agreement made between China and Canada this month.

The agreements signed also included cooperation on targeting supply chains used by migrant smugglers, as well as on British exports to China, health and strengthening a UK-China trade commission.

The issue of irregular migrants is highly sensitive for Starmer, who has promised to crack down on people smugglers and stem a wave of arrivals that has fuelled rising support for the far right.

China also agreed to reduce tariffs on British whisky to 5%, down from 10%, according to Downing Street.

Xi told Starmer on Thursday that their countries should strengthen dialogue and cooperation in the context of a "complex and intertwined" international situation.

Relations between China and the UK deteriorated from 2020 when Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong and cracked down on pro-democracy activists in the former British colony.

However, China -- the world's second-largest economy -- remains Britain's third-largest trading partner, and Starmer is hoping deals with Beijing will help fulfil his primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.

British pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca said Thursday that it would invest $15 billion in China through 2030 to expand its medicines manufacturing and research, with its chief executive Pascal Soriot, part of a delegation of around 60 business leaders accompanying Starmer.