Under the leadership of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Labour government of the United Kingdom is making moves to restore strong relations with China, diverging from the stern approach of previous Conservative governments.

In a notable move last month, Starmer made history as the first British prime minister since 2018 to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping face-to-face. Moreover, David Lammy, the Foreign Secretary, made a trip to China in October, marking only the second such visit within six years.

This potential visit could create an avenue for the revival of the U.K.-China Energy Dialogue. First initiated in 2010 under the tenure of then-Prime Minister David Cameron, this forum served as a platform for discussions on climate and energy goals. However, its formal sessions have been on hold since 2017.

Business leaders have suggested it’s high time the sixth dialogue between the U.K. and China took place. However, such a visit would not be without political implications. The Conservative opposition has criticized Starmer and Miliband for making the U.K. overly dependent on China in their quest to decarbonize the country’s electricity grid and eliminate new petrol and diesel car sales by 2030.

The government has also dealt with requests from its own MPs to ensure that solar panel components imported from China are not manufactured using forced labor from the Uyghur population in the Xinjiang region.

The U.K. views China as a vital player in global climate change efforts. At COP29, the latest United Nations climate summit, Miliband highlighted the need for China to contribute its fair share to climate finance in support of developing countries transitioning to greener economies.

The U.K. also aspires to back Brazil, the host of the forthcoming climate summit COP30, in urging China and other major polluting nations to set ambitious emission reduction goals for 2035.