"The British Prime Minister’s Beijing visit marked the end of a long diplomatic hiatus and produced tangible, if limited, economic results," wrote Institute Patron and Friends of China Co-Editor Keith Bennett in an article published in the Morning Star on 5 February 2026. The article recalls the role played by business in building friendship with socialist China, from the 1953 'Icebreaker Mission" to the work of their successors today in the 48 Group of British Traders with China, of which Keith Bennett is the Vice Chair.

 

Text of Keith Bennett’s article: Breaking the ice: Starmer’s pragmatic turn to China

See also the website of Friends of Socialist China: Breaking the ice: Starmer’s pragmatic turn to China – Friends of Socialist China

A version of the article was also published by China Today on 2 February 2026, under the title: Long vistas, fruitful outcomes.