Liu Xiaoming to quit his role of Chinese ambassador to Britain

Critic of UK decision to ban Huawei from 5G networks to be replaced by China's vice-foreign minister

China's long-serving envoy to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, a staunch defender of closer UK-China economic ties and the imposition of new security laws in Hong Kong, is standing down, marking the end of an era in relations between the two countries that hit a high in 2015 but has since worsened markedly.

He is being replaced by his country's vice-foreign minister, Zheng Zeguang, a former Cardiff University law student once tipped to become China's ambassador to the US, and still seen as a candidate for that post in a couple of years' time.