Starmer hails progress in China

AFP | Beijing

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Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer hailed “really good progress” on issues including visa-free travel and tariffs during talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing yesterday.

Starmer’s visit to China is the first by a British premier since 2018 and follows a slew of Western leaders seeking a rapprochement with Beijing recently, pivoting from an increasingly unpredictable United States.

Xi and Starmer met at the opulent Great Hall of the People and both stressed the need for closer relations in order to face geopolitical headwinds.

Starmer told Xi that China is a “vital player on the global stage” and that they needed to “build a more sophisticated relationship where we identify opportunities to collaborate”.

The Chinese leader also stressed the need for stronger ties with a “long-term view” in the context of what he called a “complex” international situation.

Cooperation, he said, would unlock a “new chapter” in their relations.

Starmer, who is in China until Saturday, later told reporters that the bilateral relationship was in “a strong place”, with progress made on issues such as whisky tariffs.

He signed a series of cooperation agreements after meeting Premier Li Qiang, with Downing Street announcing Beijing had agreed to visa-free travel for British passport holders visiting China for under 30 days.

That brings Britain in line with about 50 other countries allowed visa-free access, including France, Germany, Australia and Japan, and follows a similar agreement made between China and Canada this month.

The agreements 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.

Li hinted that “China and the UK can restart their golden era”, enjoyed by the two countries a decade ago.

“China and the UK have successively resumed dialogue and exchanges in multiple fields... This fully demonstrates that China and the UK are adhering to development and cooperation,” Li told Starmer. The British leader in turn reiterated his commitment to “find ways to work together in a manner which is fit for these times”.