PRIME Minister Sir Keir Starmer flew to Beijing today, pledging not to upset President Donald Trump by getting too friendlywith China.

He will pursue trade deals in the first visit to China by a British prime minister in eight years.

A government source said he was “bringing a hard-headed, grown-up approach to our relationship with China” that would chart a “steady, consistent course” in relations.

Links with Beijing soured considerably in the last years of the Tory government amid a plethora of anti-China campaigns across the West.

As ever, Sir Keir’s priorities include not upsetting President Trump. His visit follows one by Canadian premier Mark Carney which led to an adverse reaction in Washington, including the inevitable threat of new tariffs, after he agreed a trade pact.

Ahead of his trip, Sir Keir told Bloomberg: “I’m often invited to simply choose between countries. I don’t do that.

“We’ve got very close relations with the US, of course we want to and we will maintain that business, alongside security and defence.

“Equally, just sticking your head in the sand and ignoring China when it’s the second-biggest economy in the world and there are business opportunities wouldn’t be sensible.”

The Prime Minister is being accompanied by business leaders, emphasising the economic side of the visit. A previous trip by Chancellor Rachel Reeves yielded only modest results on that front.

One potential hurdle was cleared earlier this month with the long-delayed approval of a new Chinese embassy in London, with the government facing down a noisy campaign by China-baiters.

The latter have been out in force ahead of the visit, demanding that he raise everything from the rule of law in former British colony Hong Kong to the alleged mistreatment of Uighurs in the country’s west to purported espionage in talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The last colonial overlord of Hong Kong, Lord Chris Patten, was at it again today, saying Sir Keir should not “lean over backwards” to avoid offending his hosts.

It was “a complete falsehood” that “in order to do business with them, we must avoid saying anything they don’t like or doing anything that they don’t like,” he said.