Keir Starmer could meet China premier Xi Jinping at G20 summit

by · Mail Online

Sir Keir Starmer could be set to meet with China's Xi Jinping at next week's G20 summit, it has emerged.

The Prime Minister and Chinese President are both attending the gathering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Monday and Tuesday.

It is reported the pair could hold talks with a senior business representative familiar with the plans telling Politico that Sir Keir is 'supposed to meet with Xi Jinping there'.

If a meeting does happen, Sir Keir would become the first PM since Theresa May in 2018 to meet with the Chinese premier.

It would also follow Foreign Secretary David Lammy's visit to Beijing and Shanghai last month, during which he met with his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi.

It has been claimed that Mr Lammy suggested during his trip that Sir Keir and the Chinese president should meet at the G20 summit.

Sir Keir Starmer could be set to meet with China 's Xi Jinping at next week's G20 summit , it has emerged.
The Prime Minister and Chinese President are both attending the gathering in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil , on Monday and Tuesday
If a meeting does happen, Sir Keir would become the first PM since Theresa May in 2018 to meet with the Chinese premier

In their first official telephone call in August, Sir Keir told President Xi he hopes they can have 'open, frank and honest' talks about areas of disagreement.

The call was the first between the Chinese premier and a British PM since he spoke to Boris Johnson in March 2022.

Prior to Labour's general election victory in July, Sir Keir and Mr Lammy blasted '14 years of damaging Conservative inconsistency over China'.

They pledged to conduct an 'audit' of the UK-China relationship if they won power, in order to better understand the 'challenges and opportunities' posed by Beijing.

Since winning power, Mr Lammy has backtracked on plans to pursue legal routes to declare China's crackdown on Uighur Muslims in Xinjinag as a 'genocide'.

In his talks with his Chinese counterpart last month, the Foreign Secretary pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights concerns and China's support for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

But he also spoke about deepening trade and investment links between China and the UK.

President Xi enjoyed a state visit to Britain in 2015 when David Cameron was PM, as he and George Osborne chased a 'golden era' of UK-China ties.

But China's actions in Xinjiang, Hong Kong and over Taiwan in recent years has seen a cooling of relations.