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

"That was beneath the office of the prime minister".

Sir Keir Starmer has criticised the "politics of poisonous division" of Reform UK, after the party’s candidate in an upcoming by-election received an endorsement from far-right activist Tommy Robinson. The Labour leader’s comments precede a crucial vote in Gorton and Denton, a Greater Manchester constituency that Labour hopes to hold.

The leaders of Britain and China have called for a “comprehensive strategic partnership” to deepen ties at a time of global uncertainty.

Sir Keir Starmer attended talks in Tokyo, saying the relationship between the countries was the "strongest" it has been "in decades".

Journalists in the press pack have reported Sir Keir himself is among the officials using a burner phone while in China, with some of them resorting to using a notepad and pen in the absence of tech. But a government source told Metro the decision to take a British Airways jet was simply down to the size of the delegation going along.

In contrast to its £52bn trade deficit in goods with China in the year to the end of last June, the UK had a £10bn surplus in services, and it hopes the City’s financial and professional services firms can play a greater role in China in coming years.

Executives from Airbus, AstraZeneca and HSBC are joining Prime Minister Keir Starmer on a rare China visit, highlighting the business focus of the trip amid strained global trade relations.