Britain and China can “break new ground” in their relationship under a Labour government, President Xi said on Monday, as he met Sir Keir Starmer for the first time at the G20 summit in Brazil.
In a diplomatic fillip for the prime minister the Chinese leader used Labour’s own political slogan to praise Starmer, saying the new government was “working to fix the foundations of the economy and rebuild Britain”.
Starmer himself said that it was in the UK’s “national interest” to have a close relationship with “one of our biggest trading partners” after five years of diplomatic tensions over China’s human rights abuses and espionage.
Downing Street said that Starmer had told Xi that he wanted to engage “honestly and frankly” on “those areas