Sir Keir Starmer has shown he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping while maintaining a “pragmatic and serious” relationship with Beijing.
The prime minister will be the first British leader since Theresa May in 2018 to meet the Chinese prime minister.
They are expected to hold talks on Monday at the G20 Summit in Brazil.
Downing Street said Sir Keir wants to build “pragmatic partnerships with other countries, even where our values differ”.
But critics point to the prospect of rapprochement with Beijing at a time of intense geopolitical tensions.
China is strengthening its military and navy, warning that it could simply invade Taiwan and supporting Russia’s invasion of Ukraine by keeping Vladimir Putin’s economy afloat.
Sir Keir said: “I am planning to have a bilateral with President Xi at the G20.
“I think that’s important. We are both global players, global powers, both permanent members of the Security Council and of the G20.
“The Chinese economy is clearly the largest in the world right now. He is one of our largest trading partners and I will have serious and pragmatic conversations with the President when I meet him.
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Asked if he wants better diplomatic relations than under previous regimes, Sir Keir said: “Given the size of the economy, it is very important that we have a pragmatic and serious relationship and that’s what I intend to pursue.”
Asked whether he considered the Chinese prime minister to be to blame for the genocide, the Labor leader added: “I think Rishi Sunak used his last PMQ or the one before to ask me about China, so there’s a whole range of answers. in terms of my position.
“But I do think it’s important that we have serious engagement, which is what I will be pursuing in my bilateral at the G20.”
Discussions will most likely focus on industry and areas of mutual interest, such as climate update and external stability.
No 10 insisted Sir Keir “will be company in wanting to have fair conversations across spaces of disagreement, while we compete and challenge where necessary. ”
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Chancellor Rachel Reeves is also expected to travel to China in the new year as the government tries to revive the economic and monetary debate between the two countries.
The price of UK exports to China rose from £20bn in 2016 to £33bn last year, despite the complicated political situation.
Speaking as rumours of the meeting emerged over the weekend, former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith told the Daily Express: “President Xi has no regard for the UK and is trashing all the rules-based order around the world, from human rights, to the WTO [World Trade Organisation], China just ignores what it is told.
“President Trump believes that China represents a risk to Western values and I agree with him. That’s right.
“China has lately 230 times the shipbuilding capacity of the United States. A single shipyard in China can surpass all of those in the United States.
“They are strengthening their military and in terms of trade, many intermediary companies are leaving China and there is a reason for that.
“China is stealing its intellectual properties, destroying them and does not respect WTO rules. »
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