Reeves’ mission has become more desperate as the U.K. economy continues to falter, with borrowing costs this week reaching 1998 levels and the pound tanking, threatening the government’s pledge to generate growth and make Britons wealthier. That's prompted some grumbling back home as opposition parties urge Reeves to pull the trip altogether.

Latest report from EU Chamber of Commerce in China also flags increased costs and market barriers that are ‘stripping away global competitiveness’.

China said the European Union’s measures to shield its companies from foreign subsidies are a barrier to trade and investment, marking the latest clash in the ongoing trade dispute between the two sides.

China's exports probably expanded at a faster pace in December, suggesting producers raced to move inventory to major markets ahead of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's return to the White House this month and fresh trade risks.

China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) announced on Thursday that it has determined that the practices adopted by the EU in its investigations of Chinese enterprises based on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) and its implementing rules constituted trade and investment barriers.

An increasing number of examples indicate that the key to the EU's green transition lies not in imposing trade barriers, but rather in effectively expanding the green consumption market. Only by fostering a robust market for sustainable products and services can the EU support environmental goals and enhance economic growth by creating new markets and job opportunities in the green sector.

Yet Trump's imminent reentry into the White House could leave Britain in the middle of two behemoths if the incoming U.S. president makes good on his pledge to impose punitive trade tariffs on China. Soames, however, believes the U.K. should take advantage of this position.

So far, China has used carbon intensity — the amount of carbon dioxide emitted per unit of GDP — as its official target. It announced the metric in 2009, at the height of its economic growth, after facing pressur e to set a quantitative goal to curb its emissions. Its argument was that it was a target that wouldn’t constrain China’s growth.

The European Union Chamber of Commerce in China warned that the trend could accelerate deglobalisation and reduce global economic growth. #EuropeNews

China will urge the European Union to rectify its trade barrier practices through bilateral consultations and other measures, with the aim of creating an open, fair, just, nondiscriminatory and predictable environment for Chinese companies to invest and operate in Europe, the Ministry of Commerce said on Thursday.

EU monitoring cases amid soaring infections across China - Cases of the flu-like virus have spiked across northern Chinese provinces this winter