Foreign media, citing multiple informed sources, report that UK Prime Minister Starmer will visit China next week, during which the high-level business dialogue between China and the UK—once described as the "golden era"—will be resumed, and representatives from major leading enterprises of both sides are expected to participate.
The report indicates that the dialogue platform to be resumed is the "China-UK Business Leaders Council," a mechanism initially established in 2018 when former UK Prime Minister Theresa May and then Chinese Premier Li Keqiang promoted its creation, a time when bilateral relations were described as a "golden era." According to the sources, several major British companies have already expressed intentions to participate, including AstraZeneca, BP, HSBC, InterContinental Hotels Group, Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls-Royce, Schroders Group, and Standard Chartered, among others.
On the 21st, the UK government announced its approval of China's plan to build a "super embassy" in central London, ending more than seven years of approval delays, which is seen as an important signal of the recent warming in China-UK relations.
According to the report, on the Chinese side, it is expected that several state-owned and large enterprises will send representatives, including Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Mobile, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, CRRC Corporation, China National Pharmaceutical Group, and BYD, among others.
The report, citing informed sources, revealed that related consultations have actually been ongoing for some time, but whether Starmer's visit could materialize once depended on whether the UK government would approve China's construction of what would be its largest embassy in Europe in London. With this approval granted in recent days, negotiations have accelerated. However, since the arrangement has only just been finalized and external geopolitical uncertainties remain, the details of the visit are still in the stage of final confirmation.
Another source indicates that the UK side may formally announce Starmer's itinerary for China as early as this week. However, it has not yet been determined which company CEOs will personally attend; some company executives have reportedly declined the invitation due to uncertainty surrounding the schedule.
If Starmer’s visit proceeds, it will mark the first official visit to China by a UK prime minister since 2018.