Rachel Reeves is expected to raise support for Russia’s war in Ukraine and issues of human rights in Hong Kong during her trip to China.

More than 150,000 Hong Kongers have come to the UK since 2020 after China launched a crackdown under its national security law

MPs and peers pen letter to Rachel Reeves urging her to raise plight of detained political prisoners during China trip.

Pressure is mounting on Rachel Reeves as the Chancellor arrived in China after a week when government borrowing hit an almost 30-year high. Bond market turmoil has seen the pound sink to a 14-month low against the dollar amid fears Reeves may have to rip up her own fiscal rules.

Downing Street left door open to an emergency Budget in the spring following the rising cost of government borrowing

RACHEL Reeves has vowed to “make the UK better off” on her visit to China amid fury over a major debt crisis and a plummeting economy at home. The under-siege Chancellor met Chinese

Rachel Reeves has vowed to stand firmly behind her October Budget ... We must speak often and candidly with China where we disagree, including on democratic values and freedoms, Hong Kong, and support for Russia’s illegal war in Ukraine.”

The Treasury said a stable relationship with China would support economic growth - but critics said the chancellor should have stayed at home to address the market turmoil.

Rachel Reeves's trip to China – the first by a British chancellor since 2019 - was always going to be controversial. In recent years Conservative governments have been keeping Beijing at arm's length - amid concern about espionage, the situation in Hong Kong, and the treatment of the Uyghurs.

Exclusive: Former cabinet minister Sir Iain Duncan Smith said that the chancellor’s trip to Beijing was a desperate move ‘because she has trashed the economy’

Ms Reeves hailed the trip as a ‘significant milestone’ in Labour’s re-engagement with China, saying she had agreed deals worth £600 million over the next five years

Ms Ghani is understood to have been ticked off by her boss, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle , and reminded of the convention that, as his deputy, she must avoid major public political interventions.