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Foreign Secretary David Lammy met Foreign Minister of the People鈥檚 Republic of China, Wang Yi, in Beijing today (18 October).

The Foreign Secretary set out that as fellow Permanent Members of the UN Security Council, it is a necessity that the UK and China increase bilateral engagement. He made clear that, as global players, both countries have an obligation to work together to find pragmatic solutions to complex challenges.聽

Areas of pragmatic, mutually beneficial cooperation were clear. This included working together聽on achieving聽the global green transition; making greater efforts on development and global health; and聽the safe use of AI.聽The Foreign Secretary reiterated his commitment to promoting secure and resilient growth through increased trade and investment which creates jobs, drives innovation, boosts productivity and provides economic stability and certainty for the UK economy.聽They agreed that the UK and China can support both countries鈥� growth objectives, with China as the world鈥檚 second largest economy and聽the UK鈥檚 4th largest trading partner.

The Foreign Secretary also raised a number of foreign policy and security matters,聽including聽Russia鈥檚 war in Ukraine, where he stated聽how聽both the UK and China have a shared interest in European peace and ending the war. He reaffirmed that聽concerns聽over China鈥檚 supply of聽equipment聽to Russia鈥檚 military industrial complex聽risks damaging China鈥檚 relationships聽with Europe聽whilst helping to sustain Russia鈥檚 war. The聽Foreign Secretary urged Wang Yi to聽take all measures to investigate and to prevent Chinese companies from supplying Russia鈥檚聽military. The Foreign Ministers agreed to continue to discuss this and other broader foreign policy issues, such as the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

Human Rights聽were discussed,聽including in Xinjiang, and the Foreign Secretary referenced this as an area which the UK and China must聽engage, even where viewpoints diverge. Hong Kong is a shared聽interest, and the Foreign Secretary raised聽serious聽concerns around the implementation of the National Security Law and the ongoing treatment of British national聽Jimmy Lai, again calling for his release.聽

The meeting was constructive across the full breadth of the bilateral relationship, from areas of pragmatic cooperation to issues of contention. Both the Foreign Secretary and Foreign Minister agreed that maintaining channels of communication was essential and committed to holding regular discussions across their respective governments at Ministerial level.