Starmer says U.K. ‘can’t stick its head in the sand’ over China after Trump issues warning

From left, Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to to Britain, Ren Hongbin, Chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT), Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Ge Haijiao, Chairman and Executive Director of the Bank of China Limited (BOC) pose for photos in Beijing, China, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung, Pool)

BEIJING — U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer arrived in the Chinese financial centre of Shanghai on Friday in his bid to boost business opportunities for British firms in the world’s second-largest economy, just hours after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled a possible opposition to any deal between Beijing and London.

Starmer, the centre-left Labour leader, has brought more than 50 business leaders on his trip to China, the first by a U.K. prime minister in eight years.

Starmer suggested Trump’s criticism was aimed more at Canada than Britain. He added that Washington was aware in advance of his trip and its objectives and pointed out that Trump has said he plans to visit China this spring.

“I don’t think it’s wise for the United Kingdom to stick its head in the sand,” Starmer told Sky News. “China is the second biggest economy in the world. Along with Hong Kong, it’s our third-biggest trading partner. And through this visit, we’ve opened up lots of opportunities for jobs and wealth creation.”

Starmer started his trip in Beijing on Thursday, where he met with Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping. The two pledged to pursue a long-term and stable strategic partnership in what was seen as a sign of improving ties after several years of friction between the two countries.

In Washington, Trump suggested that he may oppose any deal between Beijing and London, and then pivoted to Canada, with which he has had a series of sharp exchanges since Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China earlier this month.

“Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that,” he said, when asked about Starmer’s visit and any U.K. trade talks with Beijing. “And it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China. Canada is not doing well. They’re doing very poorly.”

“You can’t look at China as the answer,” he said.

Starmer and Carney are among a series of foreign leaders to visit Beijing as their nations seek to improve ties with China. Many have seen their countries’ economies buffeted by Trump’s tariffs and are looking to expand other export markets.

The British prime minister said Xi agreed to remove a travel ban that had been imposed on several British lawmakers after the U.K.’s former centre-right Conservative government joined the European Union, Canada and the U.S. in imposing sanctions on four Chinese officials over evidence of rights abuses against the Uyghur Muslim people in the far western Xinjiang region.

“This has been a cause of concern in Parliament and for parliamentarians for some time and that is why I raised it on this visit,” Starmer told ITV News. “The response from the Chinese is that the restrictions no longer apply and President Xi has told me that that means that all parliamentarians are welcome to visit.”

It wasn’t clear if the U.K. offered anything in return for lifting the sanctions on British lawmakers, but the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the two sides agreed to normal exchanges between their legislatures.

Lawmakers who had been sanctioned, including former Conservative leader Iain Duncan Smith, issued a statement rejecting any deal to lift the sanctions in exchange for diplomatic and economic concessions.

“We wish to make our position unequivocally clear: we would rather remain under sanction indefinitely than have our status used as a bargaining chip to justify lifting British sanctions on those officials responsible for the genocide in Xinjiang,” the group of seven, including one former member of Parliament, said in a joint statement.

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Ken Moritsugu, The Associated Press

Darlene Superville in Washington, and Brian Melley in London, contributed to this report.