Starmer aims to build ‘pragmatic and serious relationship’ in meeting with Xi

Prime minister wants bilateral at G20 to lead to closer ties with China, which he sees as key to faster growth

Keir Starmer will become the first UK prime minister in six years to meet the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, promising to turn the page on UK-China relations by building a pragmatic and serious relationship".

Starmer and the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, have been pursuing a thawing of relations with the world's second-largest economy on pragmatic grounds, suggesting that the UK cannot achieve its growth ambitions without better terms with China.