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Sir Keir Starmer’s trade trip to China has been blasted by experts – who slammed the PM’s kowtowing to Beijing and accused him of deliberately misleading the British public.

The four-day trip, which comes soon after Starmer’s Labour government made the controversial decision to approve a Chinese “mega-embassy in east London despite security fears, had been billed as a major moment for the British economy.

But more than halfway through the trip, the biggest wins appear to be visa-free travel, which it is expected will be more of a boon for Beijing than Britain, and lower tarriffs on whisky.

Ongoing concerns of Chinese spying in Whitehall and beyond has also cast a spotlight on the risks No.10 has chosen to take with this highly unusual trip – the first time a UK leader has set foot on Chinese soil for eight years.

The visit has already been marred by controversy amid reports that China hacked the mobile phones of senior officials in Downing Street for several years, and that the Labour leader opted not to take the UK government’s own official jet for fears it would be bugged whilst in the far east.

Professor Anthony Glees, security expert from the University of Buckingham who has previously written on the threat Chinese espionage poses to the UK, told the Daily Express: “The search for economic growth at all costs has blinded Starmer to the risks involved in drawing closer to the People’s Republic. We understand why the PM is where he is. Any British PM would be doing the same thing.

“But that does not mean it’s the right thing to do. In my view, we are being gaslit.

“So far everything that Xi has ‘offered’ suits the Chinese or is of minimal importance.

“We’re told it’s a great success that AstraZeneca will invest $15bn in China. Well, that’s more cash going into China, not coming out of China into our pockets.

“Visa-free travel? Again, that suits China, it’s of no real interest to us to boost China’s tourist industry and their domestic sale of dim sum.

“The Whisky tariff cut? That’s also small stir-fry: £50m worth of extra trade for five years.”

There should also be a healthy dose of scepticism over Labour’s claim that China is the nation’s “largest import partner.”

According to the government’s own figures, the UK imported £64bn worth of goods from China – but exported only £18bn in return to bring about a £40bn annual trade deficit.

Prof Glees went on: “If that’s a ‘trade partner’ worth having, we are deep-fried toffee bananas. In any case, the Government’s website is fooling us. In 2021 we exported £278bn of good to the EU and imported £155bn.

“What makes all this nonsense worse is not just that we are giving China huge opportunities to make further inroads into our economy, with nothing serious in return – but we have to tread so carefully because we’re so afraid that Trump will punish us for trading with China more deeply.

“Mark Carney discovered exactly that when Trump threatened him with a 100 per cent tariff after his visit to Xi.”

Indeed, Donald Trump spoke out overnight to warn the UK that Starmer’s re-engagement with Beijing is “very dangerous” and hinted at targeting the UK with measures just like he did Canada when they announced closer commercial ties with China.

The US was the UK’s largest single country trading partner in 2025, while China was the fourth largest, according to the Department for Business and Trade.

“As always, the moral here is not to be taken in by the propaganda,” warns Prof Glees. “Theirs but also ours.

“China is not going to save Starmer’s economic bacon. That’s not how it works.”