There’s a telling photograph of the chancellor which shows her sitting attentively, briefcase tucked on her chair, while the Chinese vice president holds forth in front of a classical landscape mural.

Rachel Reeves is expected to raise support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and issues of human rights in Hong Kong during her trip to China.

More than 150,000 Hong Kongers have come to the UK since 2020 after China launched a crackdown under its national security law

MPs and peers pen letter to Rachel Reeves urging her to raise plight of detained political prisoners during China trip.

With the trip publicly known, cancelling it would have been seen as a sign of panic with comparisons inevitably drawn with Denis Healey in 1976 with the then Chancellor turning back at Heathrow – aborting a planned trip to Hong Kong as the pound plunged – became the defining symbol of the economic crisis.

RACHEL Reeves has vowed to “make the UK better off” on her visit to China amid fury over a major debt crisis and a plummeting economy at home. The under-siege Chancellor met Chinese

Rachel Reeves flew out on Friday after ignoring calls from opposition ... Russia's invasion of Ukraine and concerns over constraints on rights and freedoms in Hong Kong, the Treasury said. On Friday, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy defended the trip, telling ...

Rachel Reeves has vowed to stand firmly behind her October Budget ... We must speak often and candidly with China where we disagree, including on democratic values and freedoms, Hong Kong, and support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.”

Exclusive: Former cabinet minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that the chancellor’s trip to Beijing was a desperate move ‘because she has trashed the economy’

Rachel Reeves's trip to China – the first by a British chancellor since 2019 - was always going to be controversial. In recent years Conservative governments have been keeping Beijing at arm's length - amid concern about espionage, the situation in Hong Kong, and the treatment of the Uyghurs.

Officials said Prime Minister Starmer wants a 'pragmatic' approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy. #EuropeNews

Ms Reeves hailed the trip as a ‘significant milestone’ in Labour’s re-engagement with China, saying she had agreed deals worth £600 million over the next five years