UK Prime Minister Starmer is paying an official visit to China from the 28th to the 31st. On Wednesday morning, he led a delegation of more than 50 representatives from British business, sports, and cultural sectors to Beijing, stating that the UK will benefit from strengthening its relationship with China, but emphasized that cooperation will not come at the expense of national security.
Downing Street stated that with the global situation becoming increasingly turbulent and overseas events continuing to impact people at home, Starmer will prioritize the UK's national interests. On the 29th in Beijing, he will hold talks with several Chinese leaders. While discussing economic relations with the Chinese side, he will maintain the “guardrails” for national security, and will not sacrifice national security for economic ties. He will also raise areas of disagreement between the two sides, including human rights issues. Before his departure, he stated in an interview that for many years the UK’s approach to China has swung between hot and cold, moving from a golden era to an ice age. They reject this binary choice, and this visit will bring significant business opportunities for British companies.
On the 27th, the UK's The Times published an article by Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang regarding China-UK relations, pointing out that cooperation helps strengthen ties and avoid misunderstandings. The article suggests that both sides should use this visit to deepen mutual understanding, enhance political trust, and rekindle their original intention of strategic partnership; at the same time, expand dialogue, coordination, and cooperation in broad areas such as trade and investment, financial services, clean energy, combating transnational crime, education and culture, scientific and technological innovation, as well as responding to climate change and public health; encourage increased interactions between all sectors of both societies, and even more so strengthen regular high-level contacts and enhance coordination on major international issues, making tangible contributions to world peace and development. Zheng Zeguang hopes that both sides will move toward each other, seize this historic opportunity, and jointly embark on a new journey of mutual trust and expanded cooperation in China-UK relations.