US President Donald Trump warned it would be “dangerous” for the UK to do business with China, as Keir Starmer touched down in Shanghai for the next leg of his trip to the country.
The UK Prime Minister met Chinese President Xi Jinping on Thursday as he made the case for a “more sophisticated” relationship between the two countries.
Asked by reporters early on Friday about the UK’s efforts to strengthen economic ties with China, Mr Trump expressed disapproval.
“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 said.
He added that Canada was doing “poorly” and said “you can’t look at China as the answer”.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney visited China earlier in January as the two countries sought closer economic ties, reaching a preliminary agreement to cut tariffs on selected goods.
Mr Trump later threatened Canada with a 100 per cent tariff on exports if Ottawa entered into a free trade agreement with China, but Mr Carney denied any such plans.
UK officials insisted the US was aware of Mr Starmer's trip and his objectives in advance, and pointed to Mr Trump’s own visit to China expected to take place in April.
Trade minister Chris Bryant said Mr Trump was “wrong” in his assessment.
He told BBC Breakfast: “Yes, he is wrong, and I say this precisely because, apart from anything else, he himself said in his own statement that he is a friend with President Xi, and as I understand it, President Trump is going to China himself in April.”
Ahead of his trip, Mr Starmer told Bloomberg he would not choose between Washington and Beijing: “I’m often invited to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that,” he said.
The US President’s comments came ahead of Mr Starmer's arrival in Shanghai, a massive financial hub, for the next leg of his trip.
He had earlier met business leaders and Chinese ministers in Beijing as he continues his push to bolster economic ties with China on the final day of his visit to the country.
This included Chinese Health Minister Ma Xiaowei and the Bank of China chairman Ge Haijiao.
REPORTER: "What do you think about the U.K. getting into business with China?"@POTUS: "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." pic.twitter.com/2uodxKu4jM
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) January 30, 2026
The PM’s visit to Shanghai, China’s biggest city, will cap a trip during which the Prime Minister’s political opponents accused him of “kowtowing” to Mr Xi.
But Mr Starmer has stressed the financial benefits of an improved relationship with China,
Under deals agreed on the visit, tariffs on Scotch whisky are set to be halved to 5% and UK citizens visiting China for fewer than 30 days will no longer need a visa.
Elsewhere, Octopus Energy Group, the UK’s largest energy supplier, has announced it will start a new joint venture with China’s PCG Power, aimed at trading renewable energy in China.
No 10 has left the door open to a future visit to the UK by Mr Xi, whose last state visit to Britain was in October 2015.
The UK prime minister’s trip to China is the first by a UK premier since 2018.
Mr Starmer has faced calls to raise the jailing of Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigner Jimmy Lai and the treatment of the Uighur minority with the Chinese leadership.
He said they had a “respectful discussion” on those issues, but both he and Downing Street refused to be drawn on details of discussions on contentious issues.
According to his son, 78-year-old British national Mr Lai has spent five years in solitary confinement in treatment which amounts to “torture” under Hong Kong’s new national security law.
