Reeves confident Starmer will deliver business boost from China trip
"I'm confident that the Prime Minister will come back with a package of measures that helps businesses in Britain and that helps jobs," the Chancellor said. "We make and produce some brilliant stuff in the UK and I want to sell it around the world, which is why we've done trade deals with India, Korea, the us. It's why we're improving trade relations with Europe."Sir Keir is due to be accompanied by business leaders as he seeks to improve trading relations with the superpower on the trip, which is the first by a British prime minister since Baroness Theresa May’s visit in 2018.In a Cabinet meeting ahead of his departure, Sir Keir told ministers the UK had “veered from the golden age to the ice age in its relations with China” in recent years, but said his Government would follow “a strategic and consistent strategy”.He noted there were "significant business opportunities" on the table, but stressed that protecting the UK’s national security remains “non-negotiable”.A No.10 source said the Government was “bringing a hard-headed, grown-up approach to our relationship with China” that would chart a “steady, consistent course” with Beijing. The trip follows the approval of a new Chinese embassy in London and Sir Keir will face pressure from home to raise several difficult subjects with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, including China’s espionage activity.The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said he could not comment on reports that China had hacked the phones of senior Downing Street officials under previous governments between 2021 and 2024.But he said Sir Keir was confident that his phone is not being monitored by the Chinese, and that No 10 has “robust communication security measures in place”.“We’ll always take the necessary action to detect, disrupt and deter those who seek to do us harm, and that’s why we’ve sanctioned China-based tech firms for global cyber attacks, and why we’re training frontline police officers on spotting hostile state activity,” the spokesman said.
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