UK chancellor becomes first holder of her office to make an official visit to China in a decade

Rachel Reeves has said the UK “must engage confidently with China”, as she arrived in Beijing amid market turbulence at home.

The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats had demanded the chancellor call off her China trip after the value of the pound plummeted to its lowest level in a year. But ministers argue that improved relations with the world’s second-largest economy will help boost growth, and that under the Conservatives the UK lagged behind the US and EU when it came to high-level engagement with Beijing.