Starmer invites Japanese PM to Chequers at end of east Asia trip
Sir Keir met Sanae Takaichi on a brief visit to Japan at the end of his four-day trip to China.
Sir Keir Starmer extended an invitation to Chequers to his Japanese counterpart on Saturday, but she will have to win an election first.
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The Prime Minister met Sanae Takaichi on a flying visit to Japan at the end of a four-day trip to China.
Ms Takaichi, who told Sir Keir he seemed “very fit”, came to power in October last year and faces an election on February 8.
Her party, the Liberal Democrats, has held power for all but six of the last 70 years and appears set to return to power next weekend.
If she does, she has an invitation to visit the UK and Sir Keir’s official country estate later in 2026.
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In a statement after their 20-minute meeting, and before a working dinner, Sir Keir said: “I look forward to our dinner in a moment, and to the meeting that I hope we will have in Chequers.
“We share vital interests and principles, but more than that we share an ambition for this partnership which can deliver real benefits for both nations.
“I look forward to driving that forward together.”
He added that Britain and Japan’s response to turbulent global affairs should be “one of strength and clarity”, adding the two countries had “a clear interest in free and predictable trade”.
Ms Takaichi echoed his comments, saying she would discuss “co-operation towards the realisation of a free and open Indo-Pacific” during dinner, as well as Ukraine and the Middle East.
She added: “In order to build a new era of Japan–UK relations amid the complex crises facing the international community in the 21st century, I would like to work ever more closely with Prime Minister Keir.”
Ms Takaichi also said she and Sir Keir had discussed efforts to work more closely on cybersecurity, on bolstering supply chains of critical minerals, as well as the joint work on a new generation of fighter jet planes.
His visit comes at the end of a four-day trip to China as he continued his efforts to “reset” the UK’s relationship with Beijing.
Travelling with a delegation of more than 50 business and cultural leaders, Sir Keir secured a reduction in tariffs on whisky and the introduction of visa-free travel to China for British citizens.
After a meeting between Sir Keir and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Beijing also agreed to lift sanctions on British parliamentarians.
In a statement, the previously sanctioned MPs and peers said they took “no comfort” in the decision to lift restrictions on them while these issues remained unresolved.
Sir Keir said: “We are bringing stability, clarity and a long-term strategy to how we engage with China, so we can bring home the benefits for businesses and for working people.
“Engaging with China is how we secure growth for British businesses, support good jobs at home and protect our national security.”
Downing Street said the visit had secured £2.2 billion in export deals and market access worth another £2.3 billion over the next five years as well as hundreds of millions of pounds of investment by Chinese companies.
Among those companies was Pop Mart, makers of the hit toy Labubu, which has pledged to open seven stores in the UK including a flagship outlet on London’s Oxford Street.
Birmingham and Cardiff have also been earmarked for stores.