Friday 22 February 2019 10:00 am | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 12:26 am

China invites chancellor Philip Hammond to visit despite war of words over British patrols in Pacific

The Chinese foreign ministry has said it would welcome a visit from the UK government's chancellor of the exchequer, Philip Hammond, just a day after he said that relations with China had been affected by talk of Britain deploying a warship in the Pacific.

Hammond's trip to China last week was called off, according to reports, following defence minister Gavin Williamson's claims that the UK would use military force to support its interests after Brexit and deploy a new aircraft carrier in the Pacific.

The chancellor said that he was disappointed China had reacted badly to Williamson's comments, but now the Chinese government has responded by claiming Hammond is welcome to visit.

“China sets great store on Sino-Britain ties, and hopes Britain can earnestly respect China’s core interests and concerns, and make efforts for promoting the healthy and stable development of relations,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said at a daily news briefing, according to Reuters.

“As for the issue of chancellor Hammond visiting China, we have said that we welcome him to visit,” Geng added.

The relationship between China and Britain has continued to grow in recent years. China was Britain's sixth largest export market in 2017 with sales worth £22.3bn, while it was also its fourth largest source of imports, worth £45.2bn.

Both sides have talked of a "golden era" of relations and agreed in 2018 to attempt to agree a "top notch" free trade deal after Brexit.

The UK has been trying to negotiate a trade deal with China for some time ahead of Brexit, but official talks can not begin until after leaving the EU – currently scheduled for just over a month's time, on 29 March.