David Lammy Britains foreign minister‚ is going to China this friday. He wants to show that the new government is trying to be practical about working with Beijing even though they dont agree on everything
The Labour government which got elected about 3 months ago‚ is trying to show its serious about talking to China. They want to work together on money and world stuff but also challenge Beijing on things like its help for Russias war in Ukraine
Lammy will be in China for 2 days. Heʼll meet Wang Yi (his Chinese counterpart) in Beijing on friday then go to Shanghai to talk with British companies working in China
As permanent members of the UN Security Council with major global economies‚ the UK and China are global players Our relationship matters
Lammy also said that talking to China is practical and needed to help UK and world interests. He mentioned stopping Russias illegal invasion of Ukraine and helping the world go green as things they need to talk about
This visit isnt expected to make any big deals or fix everything. Mao Ning a Chinese foreign ministry person said theyll talk about working better together in different areas
Its only the second time in about 6 years that a British foreign secretary has gone to China. This shows how things got bad between them before because of fights about human rights Hong Kong and claims that China was spying
China is Britains 6th biggest trading partner making up 5% of all trade (based on British government numbers)