LONDON, Nov 18, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will meet China's Xi Jinping on Monday at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, the premier's office said.

Starmer will meet the Chinese president "for the first time" and "seek serious, stable and pragmatic engagement with China", Downing Street said in a statement.

It will be the first bilateral meeting between Xi and a British prime minister since February 2018, when he met Theresa May.

Starmer, who took office in July, "will be firm on the need to have honest conversations on areas of disagreement," Downing Street added.

Speaking to journalists en route to the summit, the British premier said he wanted to improve bilateral relations.

"Given the size of the economy it is very important that we have a pragmatic and serious relationship and that's what I intend to pursue," he said, quoted by Britain's Press Association news agency.

Ties between London and Beijing have been at a low ebb for years, after British criticism that special freedoms guaranteed under Hong Kong's mini-constitution have been eroded.

With wider claims of Chinese espionage and political interference as well as Beijing-backed cyberattacks, some British lawmakers have demanded a tougher line against China.

But Starmer's administration sees the opportunity for a reset of relations.

British Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October, where he met his counterpart Wang Yi.

Acknowledging areas where the two sides have "different perspectives", Lammy said he hoped the two countries could "find space to discuss such areas constructively".