Cameron snubbed by China?

Every year the Prime Minister meets the Chinese leadership, they take turns hosting the talks, one year in the UK and the next in China etc.

This year it's the turn of China to host Mr Cameron. The last time the PM came over was November 2010. Then, David Cameron was accompanied by the Chancellor and a large bunch of businesspeople.

The guidance had been that this year the visit to China would happen before the Olympics. The reason being was that obviously the Olympics in July would be very busy for the government in the UK, then it's the summer break, then we would be close to the Chinese leadership reshuffle scheduled for October. It would be difficult to get the leadership to concentrate on anything but the handover of power later in the year.

George Osborne came to Beijing in February, a short trip, a speech in Hong Kong and a meeting with the government. The main visit was then scheduled for April, but the Chinese have said no.

The indications behind the scenes are that differences over Syria and, perhaps, more troubling for the Chinese, a visit by the Dalai Lama to London in June are causing some cooling of diplomatic relations. The visit has now been delayed until after the Olympics.

Yesterday the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman told Lobby journalists in Westminster that he wouldn't discuss the PMs travel plans. An easy way to block discussion and notably the answer did not broadly say that the visit would go ahead at some point.

Of course the visit could still go ahead after the Olympics, or even after the leadership handover, but post October the new leaders will be settling in, focussing on solidifying their support internally, and the 6 months or so after the reshuffle are thought to be 'dead' months when nothing is really done.

Downing Street, desperate to generate growth back home, is looking to China as a place where UK PLC can expand. If the visit slips to late in the year, business leaders may well take the view that the UK is not really getting a proper hearing. After all it's China's one party state which runs industries and ultimately makes crucial business decisions and their minds will be on the all consuming regeneration of political power.