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UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he made ‘good progress’ on talks on tariffs and visa-free travel to China in his meeting with Xi Jinping. He said he and the Chinese leader had discussed how ‘huge opportunities’ in China could benefit people back in the UK. Starmer had told the president he wanted a ‘more sophisticated’ relationship with China at the start of the meeting, while Xi said relations had been through some ‘twists and turns’ in recent years. He met Xi at the Great Hall of the People on the first morning of his trip to China, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018. Afterwards, the prime minister said: ‘We made some really good progress on tariffs for whisky, on visa-free travel to China and on information exchange and co-operation on irregular migration, focusing particularly on small boats and engine parts. ‘So a very good, constructive meeting with real outcomes and that’s very much in our national interest.’ China had said, in its own readout of the meeting, that it was willing to ‘actively consider’ implementing unilateral visa-free entry for the UK. The prime minister is understood to regard meetings with the Chinese leadership as crucial for Britain, as he seeks to emphasise the practical benefits of engaging with Beijing. To that end, he arrived alongside a delegation of 54 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions looking to deepen ties with the country. He has also faced calls to raise the jailing of pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai and the treatment of the Uighur minority with the Chinese leadership. He said they had a ‘respectful discussion’ on those issues and that this was ‘part and parcel of the reason to engage’. Starmer said: ‘We raised those issues, as you would expect. Part of the rationale for engagement is to make sure that we can both seize the opportunities that are available, which is what we’ve done, but also have a mature discussion about issues that we disagree on.’ Beijing said the leaders agreed both sides should develop a ‘long-term, stable and comprehensive strategic partnership’. A Chinese readout of the meeting stressed that China will not ‘pose a threat’ to other countries. Setting out what Starmer raised in the meeting, it states that the UK’s policy on Taiwan ‘remains unchanged and will not change’. By Helen Corbett, David Hughes and Christopher McKeon in Beijing, Press Association Press Association: News source: PA Copyright 2026 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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