Trump Warns UK About ‘Dangerous’ China Strategy – As Starmer Hails Deals On Visa-free Travel And Cuts To Whisky Tariff

• British citizens will now be able to travel to China for 30 days without needing to get a visa following a deal between Sir Keir Starmer and President Xi Jinping

Donald Trump has warned the UK against getting into business with China, calling it “very dangerous”, as Sir Keir Starmer and Chinese leader Xi Jinping hailed a reset in relations following talks in Beijing.

The US president was speaking to reporters during the premiere of the Melania film at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC.

Trump said: “Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.”

He added that Canada is “not doing well”.

“They’re doing very poorly, and you can’t look at China as the answer,” he said.

“I know China very well. I know President Xi is a friend of mine. I know him very well. But that’s a big hurdle to go over when you get Canada.”

Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said he had “very warm, very good meetings” with China’s Xi Jinping that provided “just the level of engagement that we hoped for”.

“We warmly engaged and made some real progress, actually, because the UK has got a huge amount to offer,” the prime minister told a meeting of the UK-China Business Forum at the Bank of China in Beijing on Friday morning.

Starmer hailed agreements on visa-free travel and lowering whisky tariffs as “really important access, symbolic of what we’re doing with the relationship”.

“That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important,” the prime minister told the event, attended by British and Chinese businesspeople.