Britain's foreign secretary has called engagement with China "pragmatic and necessary" as he makes he makes the first visit by a Cabinet minister since the Labor government took control in July .
David Lammy met Friday with Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang and was to hold talks with Foreign Minister Wang Yi later the same day.
His two-day trip is an attempt to reset ties with Beijing after relations turned frosty in recent years over spying allegations, China's support for Russia in the Ukraine war and a crackdown on civil liberties in Hong Kong , a former British colony now part of China.
"From stopping Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine, to supporting a global green transition, we must speak often and candidly across both areas of contention as well as areas for cooperation in the U.K.'s national interest," Lammy was quoted as saying in a Foreign Office news release.
The release said that Lammy would urge China to stop its political and economic support of the Russian war effort.
