MPs are warning the government must “recalibrate” its approach towards China, advising ministers that rising security concerns must take precedent over economic ties.

In a sharp criticism of the 'Golden Era' of investment ushered in under David Cameron, the Foreign Affairs Select Committee said in report published Thursday that current UK policy "reflects an unwillingness" to face the reality of China as a growing threat.

The committee raised further espionage concerns over Chinese telecoms firm Huawei, while MPs also warned against signing deals with Beijing on its Belt and Road initiative, a trillion-dollar infrastructure investment that is a tool to further China’s global influence.

The committee called on the UK government to develop and publish a new China strategy by the end of 2020, rather than return to the “Golden Era”, when Mr Cameron encouraged investment and cooperation.

“We must recognise that there are hard limits to what cooperation can achieve; that the values and interests of the Chinese Communist Party, and therefore the Chinese state, are often very different from those of the United Kingdom,” said the head of the committee, MP Tom Tugendhat. “This doesn’t mean that the Government should seek confrontation with China – or abandon cooperation.”