Britain’s Treasury chief kicks off China visit

Britain’s Treasury chief has kicked off a China visit aimed at boosting economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the U.K.’s Labour government seeks to reset strained ties with Beijing. Rachel Reeves, who is traveling with a delegation of British business leaders, was set to meet with top Chinese finance and economic officials including Vice Premier He Lifeng. A focus of her trip is reviving the China-U.K. Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and deteriorating relations in recent years. The British side wants the dialogue to help bring down barriers that U.K. businesses face when looking to export or expand to China.