Beijing (AFP) - Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer met Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Beijing on Thursday, seeking closer trade ties while balancing sensitive issues of national security and human rights.

This is the first visit to China by a UK prime minister since 2018 and follows a slew of Western leaders seeking support from Beijing recently, pivoting from an increasingly unpredictable United States.

Starmer held talks with Xi at the opulent Great Hall of the People, and the two leaders will later have lunch.

Starmer, who is in China until Saturday, also met the country’s third highest-ranking official Zhao Leji in the morning and is expected to hold talks with Premier Li Qiang in the afternoon.

Zhao said relations were on “the correct track to improvement and development” amid a “turbulent international landscape”.

Starmer called the visit “historic” and said it was a chance to “find positive ways to work together”.

He will travel to economic powerhouse Shanghai on Friday before making a brief stop in Japan to meet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.

Downing Street has lauded the China visit as an opportunity to strengthen trade and investment ties while discussing thorny topics including human rights.

It also said Britain and China are set to sign a cooperation agreement targeting supply chains used by migrant smugglers.

The issue of irregular migrants is highly sensitive for Starmer, who has promised to crack down on people smugglers and stem a wave of arrivals that has fuelled rising support for the far right.

- Repairing ties -

London and Beijing enjoyed what they described as a “Golden Era” a decade ago but relations deteriorated from 2020 when Beijing imposed a national security law on Hong Kong and cracked down on pro-democracy activists in the former British colony.

Starmer is expected to discuss the case of Hong Kong media mogul and democracy supporter Jimmy Lai, 78, who is facing years in prison after being found guilty of collusion charges in December.

Human rights abuses, alleged spying and cyber attacks, and China’s perceived support for Russia’s war in Ukraine have also strained ties.

Nevertheless, China – the world’s second-largest economy – remains Britain’s third-largest trading partner, though UK exports to the Asian giant plummeted 52.6 percent year-on-year in 2025, according to British government statistics.

The visit by Starmer, who took the helm in 2024, follows finance minister Rachel Reeves’s trip to Beijing last year, as the centre-left Labour government looks to improve trade relations and fulfil its primary goal of boosting UK economic growth.

He is accompanied by around 60 business leaders from the finance, pharmaceutical, automobile and other sectors, as well as cultural representatives, as he tries to balance attracting vital investment and appearing firm on national security concerns.

Starmer’s trip also comes as Britain faces a rift with its closest ally, the United States, following Trump’s bid to seize Greenland and his brief threat of tariffs against Britain and other NATO allies.