‘Choosing not to engage with China is therefore no choice at all,’ said Rachel Reeves.

The UK “must engage confidently with China” in trade, Rachel Reeves has suggested, as she arrived in Beijing amid market turbulence at home.

The Chancellor has said “choosing not to engage” with the Asian nation “is no choice at all” but said that Britain must also “speak candidly” in areas where “we disagree, including on democratic values and freedoms”.

Writing for the Times at the start of her trip, the Chancellor said that the previous Government “failed to realise the value of engagement with China”.

Ms Reeves is due to meet China’s vice premier He Lifeng during the trip, following Sir Keir Starmer’s talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in November.

However, the trip has been overshadowed by concerns over a rise in government borrowing costs........

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