When Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney left Beijing, he wasted no time declaring the U.S.-led “world order” broken. Keir Starmer, by contrast, is heading to China determined not to make such a statement — or provoke a backlash from Washington.
Starmer will land in Beijing on Wednesday, marking the first visit by a U.K. prime minister since 2018. By meeting President Xi Jinping, he aims to thaw what he has described as an “ice age” in relations under the previous Conservative government and to secure economic wins he can present to voters as momentum for Britain’s struggling economy.
But unlike Carney, Starmer is walking a careful line: re-engaging with China while making sure the trip does not look like a rupture from the United States — especially with Donald Trump watching closely.
Why Is Starmer Going Now?
Starmer is one of several Western leaders making the journey to the world’s second-largest economy. French President Emmanuel Macron visited China in December, and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is due to follow next month. Like Carney, Starmer has warned that the world is currently more unstable than at any time in a generation.
Yet his framing is far more cautious. While Carney used his China engagement to question the foundations of the U.S.-led global system, Starmer is determined to avoid triggering the kind of criticism Trump recently directed at the Canadian leader.
The British prime minister is attempting to balance relations with Washington, Brussels and Beijing simultaneously — a challenge one senior Westminster figure joked was his “three-body problem.”
How Tight Is the Tightrope Starmer Is Walking?
Interviews with 22 current and former officials, MPs, diplomats, industry figures and China experts — most speaking anonymously — paint a picture of a leader navigating familiar constraints.
From post-Brexit negotiations with the European Union to Donald Trump taking potshots at British policies and freezing talks on a U.K.-U.S. technology deal, Starmer’s room for maneuver is limited. His China visit, long planned, is intended to drive growth — but without compromising national security or provoking Washington.
Notably, Starmer appears neither to have ramped up engagement with Beijing in response to Trump, nor scaled it back despite ongoing concerns about Chinese espionage and human rights.
In short, he wants no drama.
“Starmer is more managerial. He wants to keep the U.K.’s relationships with big powers steady,”
said one person familiar with planning for the trip.
“You can’t really imagine him doing a Carney or a Macron and using the trip to set out a big geopolitical vision.”
A Downing Street official reinforced the point:
“He’s clear that it is in the U.K.’s interests to have a relationship with the world’s second biggest economy. While the U.S. is our closest ally, he rejects the suggestion that means you can’t have pragmatic dealings with China.”
Starmer will be hoping Trump — whose own China visit is planned for April — accepts that logic.
Is Growth the Only Priority?
For Starmer, the overriding objective is growth — a sensitive issue with the U.K. economy expanding by just 0.1 percent in the three months to September.
He will be accompanied by executives from HSBC, Standard Chartered, Schroders and the London Stock Exchange Group, alongside AstraZeneca, Jaguar Land Rover, Octopus Energy, and Brompton, the folding bicycle manufacturer.
According to one person involved in planning, Downing Street’s priority is returning with “a sellable headline.” The economy dominates the agenda. While officials initially discussed the possibility of China lifting sanctions imposed on British parliamentarians in 2021, one U.K. official now believes that outcome is unlikely.
Five people familiar with preparations expect a large number of deals, dialogues and memorandums of understanding — but primarily in areas posing minimal national security risk.
What Kind of Deals Are Actually on the Table?
Likely areas of cooperation include medical research, health and life sciences, climate science, and initiatives promoting Mandarin language learning.
Officials are also working on mutual recognition of professional qualifications and visa-free travel for short stays. British firms have been pushing for expanded banking and insurance licenses in China, while the U.K. government is expected to urge Beijing to lower import tariffs on Scotch whisky, which doubled in February 2025.
A former U.K. official involved in Theresa May’s 2018 visit to China predicted that any agreements announced will already be effectively finalized.
“They’ll be either 100 or 99 percent agreed, in the system, and No. 10 will already have a firm number in its head that it can announce,”
the official said.
Where Is Britain Drawing Red Lines?
Despite the push for engagement, all five people familiar with the trip agreed that deals involving heavy energy infrastructure are unlikely.
The U.K. has yet to decide whether to allow Ming Yang, a Chinese company, to invest £1.5 billion in a wind farm off the coast of Scotland. Any agreement involving wind turbine technology is viewed as too sensitive.
Similarly, while Carney agreed to ease tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, three of the five sources said deep cooperation on EV technology is off the table for Britain.
“This won’t be another Canada moment,”
one predicted.
“I don’t see us opening the floodgates on EVs.”
Officials describe the strategy as sticking to “amber and green areas.” Another person involved in planning summed it up more bluntly:
“I think they’re going for the soft, slightly lovey stuff.”
Why Is Security Still Looming Over the Trip?
Britain’s caution is shaped by long-standing accusations that Chinese-affiliated groups have engaged in hacking and espionage, including targeting MPs and the U.K.’s Electoral Commission.
In December, Westminster was dominated by headlines after a case against two men accused of spying for China collapsed. Huawei was barred from Britain’s 5G network in 2020 following pressure from Trump.
Even now, British security agencies are working on protections for telecommunications cables near the Tower of London, which pass close to the boundary of China’s proposed embassy — a project that received planning approval last week.
Can Starmer Avoid the Risk of a Weak Outcome?
Chancellor Rachel Reeves knows how politically painful a disappointing trip can be. She was mocked after returning from China last year with just £600 million in agreements. One former Conservative minister described that figure as a “deliberate insult” by Beijing.
Even a headline win is not guaranteed to hold. Carney announced expanded visa-free travel between Canada and China, only for Beijing’s ambassador to Ottawa to later say the move was not yet official.
Still, businesses remain enthusiastic about Starmer’s renewed engagement with China.
Does the Embassy Dispute Reveal a Deeper Imbalance?
Even if Starmer secures economic wins, critics argue the visit highlights the asymmetry in Britain’s relationship with China. Nowhere is this clearer than in the saga of the two countries’ embassies.
Britain approved plans last week for China’s new embassy in London after a prolonged national security dispute. According to one person familiar with trip planning, China withheld formal confirmation of Starmer’s visit until that approval was finalized. Others argue Starmer himself would not have traveled until the issue was resolved.
The delay caused a scramble, with executives formally invited to join the delegation only a week before departure.
Meanwhile, Britain has not received approval to renovate its own embassy in Beijing. Officials privately describe the building as “falling down.” One visitor said construction materials were piled against walls, while another official called it “crumbling,” noting cracked walls, peeling wallpaper and damp patches.
British officials insist there is no “quid pro quo” under the U.K.’s semi-judicial planning system. But uncertainty remains over whether Beijing will approve Britain’s embassy renovation — or hold it up while China’s London project faces further court review. Behind the scenes, U.K. officials are pressing their Chinese counterparts for approval.
For Starmer, the visit is meant to be calm, controlled and economically focused. Whether it stays that way — and whether Washington stays quiet — remains the unanswered question.
