UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in Beijing on Wednesday with an entourage of financial-service executives, British cultural emissaries and manufacturing honchos.
Among the goals: boost exports in areas like banking while broadly keeping his relationship with President Xi Jinping on an even keel. Speaking to reporters on the flight, Starmer said he was pursuing new arrangements that would make it easier for British businesspeople to travel to China.
“I hope we can make some progress, but I’m not going to get ahead of myself,” he said when asked if he would strike a visa-free deal this week.