Sir Keir Starmer will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Brazil on Monday, the first time a British premier has met him since 2018.
The pair will hold talks in Rio de Janeiro on Monday and Sir Keir pledged to have “pragmatic” discussions with the leader of the Asian economic superpower when they speak.
The Xi meeting will be one in a series of discussions the Prime Minister is expected to have with world leaders at the two-day summit, with conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East likely to be high on the agenda.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer works on board a Government plane as he travels to the G20 summit (Stefan Rousseau/PA)
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.
“China’s economy is obviously the second biggest in the world. It’s one of our biggest trading partners and therefore I will be having serious pragmatic discussions with the president when I meet him.”
The UK-China relationship has deteriorated in recent years, with concerns over security, human rights and the sanctioning of Westminster parliamentarians souring ties with Beijing.
Then prime minister David Cameron and Xi Jinping visited a pub in 2015 at the height of the ‘golden era’ in relations (Chris Radburn/PA)
Despite the engagement by the Labour administration, the relationship is still a long way from the “golden era” under the David Cameron and Theresa May administrations.
Asked if he wanted a better relationship with Beijing than previous governments, Sir Keir added: “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.”
Trade could be one of the issues that comes up for discussion amid concern over US President-elect Donald Trump’s threats to impose tariffs on imports.
Outgoing US President Joe Biden had a meeting with Mr Xi on Saturday.