A critic of the returning Lord Macartney delegation from Britain to China in 1793 aptly noted that they had been treated with ceremony, entertained royally, and flattered in excess by Qianlong Emperor—and yet returned empty handed. This must rank as one of the earliest examples of the travails of seeking to do business with China.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 59.40 points, or 0.6%, at 9,756.14. The FTSE 250 ended down 35.85 points, or 0.2%, at 22,448.27, and the AIM All-Share closed up 2.10 points, or 0.3%, at 772.89.

A Facebook post or X retweet will get you jail time in the United Kingdom. But accusations of spying for the Chinese Communist Party result in a lighter touch. Such is the puzzling state of the U.K. today.

The 79-year-old met his Chinese counterpart on Thursday in South Korea as the U.S. and China try to patch up the trade war triggered by Trump’s tariffs and ease rising tensions between the two economic superpowers.

Exclusive: Son of British media tycoon welcomes US president’s promise to raise issue during Thursday’s landmark meeting

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping sat down for a meeting for discussions on a possible trade war truce between the world's two largest economies.

HONG KONG/BEIJING, Sept 5 (Reuters) - When Chinese leader Xi Jinping organised his first parade to mark the anniversary of the end of World War Two, in 2015, he placed his two predecessors by his side in a show of respect and continuity of leadership.

A botched spying case prompted accusations that the British government was soft on China, highlighting tensions between economic and national security interests.