David Cameron has insisted that the UK’s new “golden era” with China will not harm the special relationship with the US, as he prepares to roll out the red carpet for a historic state visit by the country’s president, Xi Jinping this week.



Xi’s first official visit to London, beginning on Tuesday, is expected to be marked by protests by activists against human rights abuses, and concerns that the UK is jeopardising national security by allowing Chinese state companies to invest in British nuclear power plants. His state visit to the US in September was marked by tensions over security, and a threat by Barack Obama to pursue sanctions against Chinese entities carrying out a series of cyberattacks.

But in a clear contrast to the US wariness towards Beijing, Cameron has been repeatedly hailing the prospect of a golden era in Britain’s relationship with China. Along with George Osborne, the chancellor, he has deliberately focused on the opportunity for trade relations and largely omitted mention of either human rights or security concerns.

In a rare interview, Xi praised Britain’s “visionary and strategic” decision to position itself as Beijing’s best friend in the west as he prepared to embark on the first state visit to the UK since 2005, taking with him billions of pounds of planned infrastructure investment.

Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, has promised to raise human rights issues, probably at a state banquet held by the Queen. Corbyn has also been afforded a meeting with the Chinese leader at Buckingham Palace on Tuesday evening before the banquet.



But speaking on the BBC on Sunday, Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to the UK, said the president was “not here for a debate about human rights” and suggested bringing up the issue at the dinner was not an appropriate way to behave. “I think the British people are very gentlemen, very smart. They know how to behave on occasions like this … You think the Labour party will raise human rights at a state banquet? I don’t think so.”

The ambassador said it was natural that there were differences between China and the UK, suggesting Chinese people care more about jobs and housing. “We do not shy away from discussions about human rights,” he said, adding that he had a “good meeting” with Corbyn last week and that China was “not interested in microphone diplomacy”.



Facebook Twitter Pinterest Xi Jinping with Barack Obama at the White House in September. Photograph: Gary Cameron/Reuters

Before the four-day visit, Cameron gave an interview to Chinese state TV in which he said the two countries could work together not just on trade but on “climate change and tackling poverty”. He will also use the occasion to stress that Britain’s leading role in the EU is beneficial to China as a trading partner in a move that is likely to inflame Conservative Eurosceptics.

“China is investing more in Britain now than other European countries,” Cameron said. “And the change we will see is obviously the investment into our infrastructure, Chinese companies employing people and creating jobs. But I think it’s also a big win for China as well, having access to a country that is a leading member of the EU, and has so many other contacts and roles in the world.”

Asked if the visit would harm the UK’s ties with the US, which has objected to Britain’s membership of China’s new Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, the prime minister said: “We see no conflict with having that very special relationship, with wanting to be a strong partner for China as the Chinese economy continues to grow and China emerges as an enormous world power.”

Xi will spend four nights in Britain, staying at Buckingham Palace, giving a speech at Westminster, visiting the City of London UK-China business summit, and flying to Manchester with Osborne to visit the National Graphene Institute as well as Manchester City Football Club. He is expected to use a speech at Guildhall on Wednesday to set out how he hopes to make London the global centre for offshore Chinese finance.

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Prince Charles, a supporter of the Dalai Lama, is due to miss the state banquet but has invited Xi to a separate meeting over tea at Clarence House.

Osborne paved the way for the a shift in relations with China during a visit to the country last month, during which he heavily emphasised friendship and trade ties, after relations hit a low point in 2012 following Cameron’s meeting with the Dalai Lama.



However, there are a number of groups with concerns about Cameron’s decision to embrace ties with the Chinese, including Labour MPs, human rights campaigners – and reportedly the intelligence agencies. There are said to be particular worries that a Chinese state-owned company could insert backdoor traps into nuclear technology, enabling it to shut down a power station in the event of a diplomatic row.

Lisa Nandy, the shadow energy secretary, has echoed such concerns, telling the Guardian the public were worried about Cameron allowing investment that could be “not just about putting our energy security, but actually putting our national security potentially at risk as well”.

Amnesty International has also promised demonstrations in London over China’s human rights record. The group said: “The [Chinese] government has ratcheted up censorship of the internet, clamped down on civil society, increased its ideological controls over the media and academia, and launched several large-scale crackdowns on human rights defenders, lawyers, and activists.

“Most recently, at least 245 lawyers and activists have been targeted in an unprecedented nationwide campaign over the last 100 days, and at least 30 are missing or still in police custody.”

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Steve Hilton, Cameron’s former strategy chief in Downing Street, has also condemned the government’s “obsession” with China. Hilton wrote in the Observer: “Surely we should be fighting corruption in the world, not feeding it with fat contracts that filch the earnings of British taxpayers to fund the lavish lifestyles of sleazy Chinese elites.”

Apart from human rights, the state visit may be overshadowed by a sharp slowdown in Chinese growth – something that is likely have a major impact on the global economy and especially on the UK, as the largest European investor in China and the largest destination in Europe for China’s outward investment.



Labour MPs, including shadow minister Nic Dakin, have urged the government to bring up the impact of Chinese overproduction of steel on the global markets, which has led to shutdowns and job losses in the UK industry. “There is an opportunity this week, with the visit of the Chinese [president], for the UK government to make clear that it will not accept any more cheap Chinese steel imports,” he said on Sunday.