Britain needs to be better at talking itself up on the world stage, says Starmer after China visit

By Kasper McLeish 01/02/26

Britain should talk itself up more on the world stage said Prime Minister Sir Kier Starmer after returning from a four-day trade delegation with senior government ministers and UK business leaders in Beijing and Shanghai.

The trip, which saw Starmer meet with Chinese president Xi Jinping on Thursday, was the first visit to China by a British Prime Minister since 2018 in what the government hopes is a ‘reset’ of relations with the world’s second largest economy.

Starmer has praised the ‘can-do’ attitude of his 54-strong business delegation, which included representatives from HSBC, Jaguar, and the National Theatre, after key an estimated £2.2 billion in export deals and lowered tariffs on British whiskey were secured.

He told reporters on his flight from Shanghai: “They’re real glass half-full people and they see the opportunity.”

The dropping of sanctions imposed on British Parliamentarians by China in 2021 as well as visa-free travel for UK citizens are also among the arrangements secured by the PM.

However, critics have argued that closer ties with China presents significant security risks for the UK following a collapsed case against two men accused of being Chinese spies late last year.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch told journalists last week that she would not visit the East-Asian powerhouse now if she were PM.

She said: “We need to be talking to those other countries who are worried about the threat China is posing to them.”

Concern have also been raised about a new Chinese ‘super embassy’ in London, greenlit by the government last month, which detractors say could pose risks to the nation’s national security due to its potential as a base for Chinese espionage.

Starmer’s delegation is reported to have been issued with burner phones and laptops during this week’s visit to prevent Chinese spyware being installed onto UK government devices and the Prime Minister is likely to face further criticism for not securing the release of British Citizen Jimmy Lai, a Hong Kong media mogul and democracy activist, who was imprisoned by the CCP in 2020 during government crackdowns on dissent.

Earlier today, Communities Secretary Steve Reed told Sky News: “We all want to see Jimmy Lai released.”

He added: “What tends to happen in these situations isn’t that you tend to get a release there and then.”

“With no dialogue, there’s no hope of that. With open dialogue, there’s hope.”

As he returns from his trip to Asia, Starmer will hope to convince the public of the benefits of closer ties with Beijing. Western leaders have begun to eye stronger partnerships with China following President Donald Trump’s erratic foreign policy movements last month, which included the capture Venezuelan premiere Nicolas Maduro and threats to annex NATO territory Greenland.

Referring to the shift in UK-China relations between the Coalition government and subsequent administrations, the PM said: “For years, our approach to China has been dogged by inconsistency – blowing hot and cold, from Golden Age to Ice Age. But like it or not, China matters for the UK.”