ISTANBUL
China Friday called for strengthening of ties with the UK, which will be "in the interest of both countries and the world," amid reports that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was preparing for a trip to Beijing.
“Amid a turbulent international situation, it is in the interests of both countries and the world, for China and the UK, as permanent members of the UN Security Council, to strengthen exchanges and cooperation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun told reporters in Beijing.
Guo, however, said the information regarding Starmer’s trip will be released in due course.
Starmer is expected to visit China next week, before his possible trip to Japan by the end of this month.
There has been no official confirmation of the visit from any side.
If confirmed, it would be the first trip to China by any British prime minister since 2018, when former UK Premier Theresa May visited the world’s second-largest economy.
Under Starmer’s Labour Party government, in power since 2014, top officials from the two sides have visited each other over the past year, including Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves.
The reports of the British prime minister's expected trip to Beijing come after the Labour Party government, despite criticism, approved the construction of a new complex for the Chinese Embassy in London.
It also assumes significance amid tensions between the US and the EU regarding the Trump administration's ambitions to acquire Greenland.
The UK was the “first Western major country to recognize” Beijing in 1950, and the two sides upgraded ties to a “comprehensive strategic partnership” in May 2004, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.
With an annual bilateral trade volume of $98.36 billion in 2024, the two sides also instituted high-level exchange mechanisms, including the Annual Prime Minister’s Meeting, Economic and Financial Dialogue, Strategic Dialogue, and High-Level People-to-People Dialogue.
Early this month, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney paid an official visit to China, which Chinese President Xi Jinping described as a "turning point" in bilateral ties.
Carney said Canada's ties with China were now "more predictable" than those with his nation's ties with the US.
Beijing also announced that Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo will pay an official four-day visit to China from Sunday.