UK citizens to get visa-free travel to China after Starmer talks with Xi

Sir Keir Starmer has secured a deal on visa-free travel to China for UK citizens during his visit to Beijing.

Those visiting the country for less than 30 days will no longer need a visa under the agreement, Downing Street has announced.

It will apply to those travelling to China for business and as tourists and brings the rules for UK visitors in line with those from 50 other countries including France and Germany.

The change will not come into effect immediately, but Beijing is understood to have committed to unilateral visa-free entry for UK citizens with a start date to be confirmed.

British passport-holders currently need a visa to enter mainland China.

“As one of the world’s economic powerhouses, businesses have been crying out for ways to grow their footprints in China.

“We’ll make it easier for them to do so, including via relaxed visa rules for short-term travel, supporting them to expand abroad, all while boosting growth and jobs at home,” the Prime Minister said.

China will also reduce whisky tariffs from 10% to 5%, in an agreement worth £250 million over five years for UK exporters, according to Downing Street.

It comes after a key meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping as Sir Keir seeks to reset relations between the two countries.

Sir Keir met Mr Xi at the Great Hall of the People on the first morning of his trip to China, the first by a UK prime minister since 2018.

He told him he wanted a “more sophisticated” relationship with China at the start of the meeting, while Mr Xi said relations had been through some “twists and turns” in recent years.

The men met with their delegations for about an hour and 20 minutes, followed by a 20-minute four-way meeting with national security adviser Jonathan Powell and Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi and then a lunch that lasted just over an hour.

Sir Keir arrived alongside a delegation of 54 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions looking to deepen ties with the country.

The Prime Minister also raised “areas of concern” during the talks, Downing Street said.

Sir Keir has faced calls to raise the jailing of Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai and the treatment of the Uighur minority with the Chinese leadership.

He said they had a “respectful discussion” on those issues and that this was “part and parcel of the reason to engage”.

The Prime Minister said: “We raised those issues, as you would expect.

“Part of the rationale for engagement is to make sure that we can both seize the opportunities that are available, which is what we’ve done, but also have a mature discussion about issues that we disagree on.”

Downing Street declined to be drawn on details of the discussions on contentious issues including Mr Lai, MPs sanctioned by China, Uighurs and Beijing’s purchase of Russian oil hit by western sanctions seeking to cripple its war effort in Ukraine.

His official spokesman would not say whether Sir Keir told the Chinese president that Mr Lai should be released, but said that the Government’s position calling for his immediate release has not changed.

According to his son, the 78-year-old British national has spent five years in solitary confinement in treatment which amounts to “torture” under Hong Kong’s new national security law.

On Ukraine, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Both leaders were clear about the shared aim to see the war brought to an end.”

Beijing said the leaders agreed both sides should develop a “long-term, stable and comprehensive strategic partnership”.

A Chinese readout of the meeting said that China will not “pose a threat” to other countries.

Setting out what Sir Keir raised in the meeting, it says that the UK’s policy on Taiwan “remains unchanged and will not change”.

“Hong Kong’s prosperity and stability are in the common interest of both countries, and the UK welcomes Hong Kong as a unique and important bridge between the UK and China,” Beijing’s readout also said.

After the meeting, Sir Keir toured the Forbidden City, and then received a ceremonial welcome at Beijing’s Great Hall of the People ahead of his meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qian.

A military band played God Save The King and the Chinese national anthem, March Of The Volunteers, before the two men inspected an honour guard of about 140 troops from the Chinese army, navy and air force.

Sir Keir also addressed the UK-China Business Council, where chief executive of British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca, Sir Pascal Soriot, announced an investment of 100 billion yuan (£10.4 billion) in China by 2030 to expand medicines manufacturing and research and development.

The trip has drawn criticism from opposition politicians, and the Tories accused Sir Keir of “kowtowing” to Mr Xi.

Shadow policing minister Matt Vickers told the Press Association: “I think people across the country are concerned as to whether Government really understands the threat posed to our national security by China.

“They’ve not bought into the idea that you should be over there kowtowing to people who’ve been sending spies into Parliament.”