A number of key UK museum professionals—including Tim Reeve, the deputy director of the Victoria and Albert Museum—have accompanied the prime minister Keir Starmer on his three-day visit to China. The delegation, which arrived in China on Wednesday and heads back to the UK today, has formed part of a relationship-boosting initiative.
In a detailed blog, Reeve outlines the V&A’s burgeoning relationship with its Chinese counterparts, from signing a memorandum of understanding in 2013—which led to the launch of the V&A at Design Society in Shenzhen near Hong Kong—to a partnership with the state body Art Exhibitions China, which resulted in ten V&A shows travelling to numerous Chinese cities including Jinan and Guangzhou.
Reeve writes: “Clearly a lot has changed since the hazy sunshine of Beijing, Chengdu and Shanghai in 2013. A decade of protest in Hong Kong and a volatile geo-political context for this visit sees confidence and optimism replaced by diffidence and pragmatism; not so much a ‘Golden Era’ of promise and ambition, but what the prime minister has described as a ‘consistent, durable and respectful relationship’; more Sparta than Rome.”
He adds: “As I clamber aboard trade mission 2026… can the V&A look forward to another decade of steady expansion of its mission of ‘art and design for all’?” A V&A spokesperson confirmed that the museum is still working with the Design Society in Shenzhen, most recently on the Design Values Award which celebrates contemporary Chinese design.
Doug Gurr, the director of the Natural History Museum in London, said in a statement: “For over 15 years, the museum’s Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibition has toured to multiple locations in China. During 2025, our scientists co-authored over a hundred papers with Chinese collaborators, as well as facilitating collection and research visits.”
The museum is also keen to expand its commercial activities in the Chinese market from brand licensing to publishing projects, he added.
Keith Merrin, the director of North East Museums, which is responsible for 12 institutions including Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle, has also been in China. He told the Chronicle Live newspaper that “this is an amazing opportunity to promote the history and creativity of the communities of north east England, as well as making connections with museums and cultural institutions in China to explore ways we can potentially work together.”
Other museum representatives on the visit include Sara Wajid, the co-chief executive of Birmingham Museums Trust, and Laura Pye, the director of National Museums Liverpool.
Starmer met the Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Qiang in Beijing (29 January) for talks on trade and investment, said a No.10 statement. Before their discussions in the Great Hall of the People, a state building in Beijing, Starmer told Xi he wanted a “broader, deeper and more sophisticated” relationship between the two countries. China subsequently agreed to a visa waiver for British tourists and business travellers, enabling visa-free travel for 30 days.
“The prime minister will push for access in areas where better co-operation with China would boost growth and deliver prosperity for the British people. That includes the UK’s world-leading financial services sector, creative industries and life sciences expertise,” adds No.10.
The UK government also stressed that the prime minister would “raise the areas where we disagree with China” highlighting human rights issues such as the detention of one million Uyghur and other Turkic Muslims in the Xinjiang region. China has repeatedly claimed the camps are re-education centres targeted at terrorists. Starmer said he raised the issue with Xi during their Thursday meeting.
“This rare, high-level visit is a moment of real consequence, and the UK government must use it to deliver a clear, public and uncompromising condemnation of Beijing’s brutal human rights record,” said Kerry Moscogiuri, Amnesty International UK’s interim chief executive, in a statement. In 2021, an independent London panel found “beyond all reasonable doubt” that China was guilty of crimes against humanity.
Other institutions that have collaborated with Chinese institutions include Tate, which has partnered with Shanghai’s Pudong Museum of Art, and the National Gallery in London which presented Botticelli to Van Gogh: Masterpieces from the National Gallery at the Shanghai Museum in 2023. At the time, the National Gallery said: “Such collaborations are not endorsements of any international government policies, and the gallery condemns any violation of human rights.”
