LONDON: British Prime Minister Theresa May was starting a crucial trade visit to China on Wednesday as she admitted the two countries will not always see eye-to-eye in sensitive areas like steel over-capacity and intellectual property rights.
May will use meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang to try to regain momentum in the international race to secure British participation in China’s services sector boom as she seeks a new role for Britain outside the European Union.
Traveling with her husband Philip and a delegation of 50 business leaders, May has to reheat diplomatic ties that have suffered from a perceived coldness since she took power shortly after Britain’s Brexit vote in July 2016.