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Rachel Reeves is expected to raise Russia’s war in Ukraine and issues of human rights in Hong Kong during her trip to China.
The Chancellor is visiting Beijing for the first UK-China economic and financial dialogue since 2019, with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and top financial services figures.
Ministers are insisting the trip is vital for the government’s effort to turbocharge Britain’s economic growth – despite coinciding with soaring UK borrowing costs, the highest surge in UK bond yields since 2008, and a plummeting pound.
Ahead of her visit, which saw criticism from opponents, Reeves said: “Growing the economy and raising living standards is front and centre of this government’s plan for change.
“That growth must be secure, resilient, and built on stable foundations, including through careful pragmatic cooperation with international partners.”
She argued: “By finding common ground on trade and investment while being candid about our differences and upholding national security as the first duty of this government, we can build a long-term economic relationship with China that works in the national interest.”
Former Tory leadership candidate Tom Tugendhat has previously criticised the government’s approach to Chinese relations, branding it “reckless and incoherent” in the Times last month.
He accused Reeves’ visit of playing into a pattern like “taking a begging bowl to a bully”.
The Chancellor and officials – as well as Bailey – will reportedly all travel with burner phones and leave their laptops in London, over cybersecurity fears, as reported by Politico.
Meanwhile, peers have tabled an amendment to the Great British Energy Bill, which is being debated in the House of Lords, in light of forced Uyghur labour claims in the Xinjiang region.
If passed, it would mean GB Energy has to carry warning labels on any Chinese-made products, stating they have “been made in a state accused of genocide and potentially culpable of using slave labour”.
The visit may also raise questions for the UK government ahead of President-elect Donald Trump’s return to the White House, who has vowed to impose tariffs and pursue a more aggressive trade policy in relation to China – potentially putting Labour on a collision course.
It comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met with Chinese Premier Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in November, where they discussed economic cooperation with Labour seeking to rebuild ties with the Asian superpower and second largest world economy.
Reeves will meet her Chinese counterpart Vice Premier He Lifeng in Beijing for talks on financial services, trade and investment, and climate change, before visiting British cycling firm Brompton’s shop in the city.
She will also visit the global financial centre Shanghai, to meet representatives of UK and Chinese businesses, including Jaguar Land Rover, Unilever and Diageo.
Foreign office minister Catherine West defended the trip this week in light of calls to cancel it over China issuing arrest warrants for pro-democracy activists living in the UK.
“While we have clear national security concerns,’ she said, ‘we have to balance those concerns with being an outwardly facing and globally trading nation.”
However, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith – who is among a number of MPs sanctioned by China – said the warrants were “the last act of a Chinese Communist Party who don’t care what countries like the UK say” as he pressed for sanctions to be imposed.
Speaking on Friday, culture secretary Lisa Nandy said: “China is the second-largest economy, and what China does has the biggest impact on people from Stockton to Sunderland, right across the UK, and it’s absolutely essential that we have a relationship with them.
“We need to make sure that the UK economy remains competitive, we need to challenge where we must, including in the area of human rights, but we also need to make sure that we are working with China on those areas of shared interest.”
