Reuters. Chinese President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a meeting on Thursday (January 29) that China was ready to develop a long-term and comprehensive strategic partnership with Britain.
On the most important day of his four-day visit to China, the first by a British prime minister in eight years, Starmer held talks with Xi at the Great Hall of the People before they lunched together.
Aiming to boost growth and security after years of acrimony, Starmer told Xi that China is a "vital player on the global stage" and that he wanted to build a "more sophisticated relationship".
Starmer is the latest Western leader to engage in a flurry of diplomacy with China, as nations hedge against unpredictability from the United States under President Donald Trump.
