Rishi Sunak and Xi Jinping to hold first meeting between UK and Chinese leaders in five years

Rishi Sunak will ton Wednesday meet President Xi in a bilateral meeting at the G20 - the first face-to-face meeting between a UK prime minister and their Chinese counterpart in five years.

Downing Street insisted that Mr Sunak wanted to build a "frank and constructive relationship" with China - after years of tension.

A spokesman said the PM would raise human rights, but insisted that Britain had to work with China on a series of global issues including climate change, global health and energy security.

The pair are also likely to discuss the worsening situation in Ukraine.

Although they wouldn't confirm which human rights issues would be raised - a source made clear that the plight of the Uyghurs was seen as a priority for the prime minister.

A spokesman said: "The challenges posed by China are systemic and they are long term. China is a country with fundamentally different values to ours, with an authoritarian leadership intent on reshaping the international order."

It comes after China and Russia were most difficult in G20 negotiations as countries grappled to agree to a communique. Sources said that a fragile agreement had been reached, which would include a line that suggested most countries condemned Russia's actions.

One source close to the negotiations said they were optimistic about an agreement but Russia could still blow it up. It was unclear on Tuesday night what impact the assault in Poland, that left two people dead, would have.

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