Starmer-Xi meeting live: UK prime minister says he wants ‘more sophisticated’ relationship with China

Key events14m agoInterim summary3h agoStarmer-Xi meeting ends3h agoStarmer seeks 'positive way to work together' with China3h agoXi says China and UK must 'strengthen' ties3h agoOpening summaryShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureInterim summaryIt’s 3pm in Beijing and if you’re just joining us here’s a recap of the latest as Keir Starmer told Xi Jinping that he wanted to build a “sophisticated relationship” with China to boost growth and security, signalling a reset after years of strained ties. The British prime minister held an 80-minute summit with the Chinese leader at the Great Hall of the People in the capital before they lunched together on Thursday – the most important day of Starmer’s four-day visit to China. It is the first visit by a British PM in eight years. Starmer told Xi at the start of their meeting: “China is a vital player on the global stage, and it’s vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship where we can identify opportunities to collaborate, but of course also allow a meaningful dialogue on areas where we disagree.” Xi said ties with Britain had gone through “twists and turns” that did not serve the interests of either country but that a more “consistent” approach was in both their interests and China stood ready to develop a long-term strategic partnership. “We can deliver a result that can withstand the test of history,” the Chinese leader said, flanked by his top ministers. Xi also appeared to reprimand Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, who has criticised Starmer for travelling to China this week. There has been cross-party concern about China’s spying activities in the UK – with the travelling No 10 delegation operating on burner phones – and also Beijing’s human rights abuses. But Starmer began the trip by saying he wanted to bring “stability and clarity” to the bilateral relationship after years of “inconsistency” under the Tories when it went from “golden age to ice age”. Starmer has made improving relations with the world’s second-largest economy a priority, despite lingering misgivings about espionage and human rights, and is the latest western leader to engage in a flurry of diplomacy with China as nations hedge against unpredictability from the US under President Donald Trump.With Guardian staff and agencies More now on Downing Street saying earlier that Starmer and Xi would announce in Beijing that the UK and China would jointly combat gangs involved in trafficking illegal migrants.The deal is to focus on reducing the use of Chinese-made engines for small boats that transport people across Europe to claim asylum, Reuters reports.Downing Street said British and Chinese officials would share intelligence to identify smugglers’ supply routes and work with Chinese manufacturers to prevent legitimate businesses from being exploited by organised crime.Xi Jinping said after his meeting with Keir Starmer that mutual trust was the bedrock for enduring relations and that China and Britain should expand cooperation in areas including education and healthcare, Reuters has just reported.On the eve of Starmer’s visit to Beijing he spoke with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the British PM is expected to seek Xi’s support in bringing an end to the conflict in Ukraine.Xi said as he met Starmer today that the state of the world was “turbulent and fluid” and that more dialogue between the UK and China was “imperative”, whether it was “for the sake of world peace and stability or for our two countries’ economies and peoples”, Pippa Crerar reports.In response, Starmer told Xi he wanted a “more sophisticated” relationship between the two countries, saying: “China is a vital player on the global stage and it is vital that we build a more sophisticated relationship.”Xi Jinping has said the UK’s relationship with his country has gone through “twists and turns” over the years but that a more “consistent” approach is in both their interests, Pippa Crerar is reporting from Beijing.Ahead of the talks with Keir Starmer during the first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years, Xi said the two men would “stand the test of history” if they could “rise above differences”, the Guardian’s political editor writes in her latest full report.At the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, Xi also appeared to reprimand Kemi Badenoch, the British Conservative leader, who has criticised Starmer for travelling to China this week.There has been cross-party concern about China’s spying activities in the UK – with the travelling No 10 delegation operating on burner phones – and also Beijing’s human rights abuses.However, the UK prime minister began the trip by saying he wanted to bring “stability and clarity” to the bilateral relationship after years of “inconsistency” under the Tories when it went from “golden age to ice age”.You can read the full report here:Keir Starmer, fifth from right, and Xi Jinping, sixth left, and their delegations participate in the meeting in Beijing. Photograph: Carl Court/APFor more context on today’s Starmer-Xi meeting, China is the world’s second-biggest economy and Britain’s third-largest trading partner – to which it exports £45bn of goods and services a year – so it is no surprise the UK has turned to Beijing in its search for economic reliability.As the Guardian’s political editor Pippa Crerar reported earlier today, the UK does not rank among the top 10 of China’s trading partners but the Beijing leadership has spied a political opportunity to improve links with one of Washington’s closest allies at a time of deep uncertainty in the transatlantic alliance.Starmer has insisted he is “clear-eyed” about the threat China poses to the UK’s national security, with Downing Street saying he would have “guardrails” in place to protect against espionage.The agenda for the much of Starmer’s talks is to focus on how to balance the need for commercial and diplomatic engagement with China while limiting its direct influence over UK infrastructure, as well as maintaining pressure on human rights, including the Uyghur population of Xinjiang and people in Hong Kong.Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping spoke privately for an hour and 20 minutes – nearly double the allocated time for their meeting.The two were also due to have lunch together afterwards.It’s now 1.01pm in Beijing.Returning to Starmer’s comments to Xi, the British PM called for a deeper relationship with China during what he described as “challenging times for the world”.He told the Chinese leader that their countries needed to work together on global stability, climate change and other issues.“I have long been clear that the UK and China need a long term, consistent and comprehensive strategic partnership,” Starmer said, quoted by the AP.Starmer-Xi meeting endsThe meeting between Keir Starmer and Xi Jinping has ended, Downing Street has confirmed.Starmer seeks 'positive way to work together' with ChinaBefore his meeting with Xi Jinping meeting today, Keir Starmer was welcomed by National People’s Congress chairman Zhao Leji at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.A report from the pool of journalists travelling with the British prime minister quotes Zhao as saying it was “significant” to develop the UK-China relationship “well” amid the “changing and turbulent international landscape”.He also praised Starmer’s efforts to reach a rapprochement with China, saying relations were now on “the correct track to improvement and development” and “positive progress has been made.”Starmer said: This is a historic visit, the first by a British prime minister in eight years. We have made this trip because I believe it is strongly in our common interest to find positive ways to work together, and that has been our long-standing position. The PM finished by saying: I look forward to a very productive few days discussing issues of global stability and security, growth and shared challenges like climate change. Starmer and Zhao at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Thursday. Photograph: Kin Cheung/PAThere have been reports the Starmer-Xi meeting is still going after more than an hour, following earlier reports it was scheduled for 40 minutes.State news agency Xinhua reported that their talks were expected to cover trade ties, national security and human rights.The meeting in the Great Hall of the People comes on the most important day of Starmer’s four-day visit to China – the first by a British PM since 2018.Starmer told journalists earlier on his flight to Beijing that he wanted to bring “stability and clarity” to the bilateral relationship after years of “inconsistency” under the Tories when it went from “golden age to ice age”.In other developments: The British PM is also due to hold meetings with premier Li Qiang and China’s top legislator, Zhao Leji, on Thursday. Starmer’s trip comes amid tension between the UK and longtime close ally the US over President Donald Trump’s recent remarks including threats to take control of Greenland and blasting what he called UK “stupidity” over its decision to cede the Chagos Islands. European and other western countries have engaged in a flurry of diplomacy with China as they hedge against US unpredictability, with Starmer’s visit immediately following one from Canadian prime minister Mark Carney, who signed an economic deal with Beijing to take down trade barriers, angering Trump. China indicated it was also eager to mend ties with the UK, portraying the relationship with Britain as being at a “pivotal moment”. Starmer told a delegation of business leaders hours after arriving in China on Wednesday that it was time for a “mature” relationship between Britain and the world’s second-biggest economy. Downing Street said Starmer and Xi would announce that Britain and China would work together to tackle the gangs involved in trafficking illegal migrants, in a sign of how the countries could work together. Starmer was asked en route to China if he would bring up the case of Jimmy Lai and said that he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with Xi. Lai, a former Hong Kong media tycoon and British citizen, was convicted in December of national security crimes. Some images from the meeting between the two leaders are dropping: