And now among the western leaders making a beeline for Beijing is Sir Keir Starmer, the first British prime minister to visit China in eight years. He seems to be guaranteed a warm welcome, especially after the UK recently approved plans for a Chinese mega-embassy in London.

China responded by imposing duties of 100% on Canadian canola oil and meal and 25% on pork and seafood. It added a 75.8% tariff on canola seeds last August. Collectively, the import taxes effectively closed the Chinese market to Canadian canola exports, an industry group said.