Britain’s finance and business ministers to accompany its PM Starmer on China visit
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Britain’s Finance Minister Rachel Reeves (centre, right) with British PM Keir Starmer (left) in 2025. She will accompany him on his trip to China next week.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LONDON – British Finance Minister Rachel Reeves will accompany Prime Minister Keir Starmer on his trip to China next week, underscoring Britain’s efforts to strengthen ties with the world’s second-largest economy
Ms Reeves will join Mr Starmer and business leaders on the trip next week, the first by a British prime minister to China since 2018, three sources familiar with the visit told Reuters.
British Business Secretary Peter Kyle, who will also be on the trip, and Ms Reeves will have separate itineraries from the British Prime Minister, one of the sources said. Their presence on the visit has not previously been reported.
Britain’s Treasury, and the Department for Business and Trade declined to comment.
The decision to send the two most senior figures in the government and the Business Secretary shows the importance the British government is placing on the visit. The trip comes amid tensions between Britain and its traditional closest ally, the US, over US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable approach to trade and defence.
Britain wants closer economic and trade ties with China to help boost the economy after Mr Starmer pledged to improve living standards through investment in public services and the economy. But the strategy has drawn fierce criticism from some British and US politicians.
China was Britain’s fourth-largest trading partner with trade totalling around £100 billion (S$173 billion) a year in the 12 months to the end of the second quarter in 2025, according to government data. REUTERS
