As Western leaders reel from Trump's unpredictability, Starmer is the latest to head to China.

In three-hour talks with President Xi Jinping on Thursday, the British leader called for a "more sophisticated relationship" with improved market access, lower tariffs and investment deals while also discussing soccer and Shakespeare.

In Washington, however, replying to questions about the closer ties, Trump said: "Well, it's very dangerous for them to do that." He was speaking to reporters ahead of the premiere of the film "Melania" at the Kennedy Center.

He did not elaborate. 

Trump, who plans to travel to China in April, threatened last week to impose tariffs on Canada after Prime Minister Mark Carney struck economic deals with Beijing on a recent visit.

While a Downing Street spokesperson and China's foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment, British trade department minister Chris Bryant said Trump was "wrong" to say what the UK was doing was dangerous.

"Of course, we enter into our relationship with China with our eyes wide open," he told the BBC on Friday. 

Around the time of Trump's comments, Starmer told a meeting of the UK-China Business Forum in the Chinese capital that his "very warm" meetings with Xi had provided "real progress".

Starmer hailed deals on visa-free travel and lower whisky tariffs as "really important access, symbolic of what we're doing with the relationship".

"That is the way that we build the mutual trust and respect that is so important," Starmer said.

Before heading for the financial hub of Shanghai, he met Chinese business leaders, such as Yin Tongyue, chief executive of carmaker Chery 9973.HK, which plans to open a research and development centre for its commercial vehicle arm in the English city of Liverpool, a city official said during Starmer's visit.

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