David Cameron leads huge trade delegation to China David Cameron will visit China next week as the prime minister looks to celebrate the reopening of top-level ties with the world's second-largest economy. The prime minister will lead the UK's largest trade delegation as he embarks on a two-day visit during which he will attend dinners with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang. The visit brings to a close 18 months of diplomacy as London tried to reopen routes into Beijing closed off after Mr Cameron met the Dalai Lama, an incident that infuriated the Chinese. Number 10 is billing the trip as an opportunity to "turn the page" after that row. Mr Cameron has long stressed the importance of the UK-China trade relationship, promising in 2010 that he would double British trade there by 2015 to £62bn. So far, the policy has not paid off - a Foreign Office study in January showed the UK share of the Chinese market had fallen to just 1 per cent in the past decade. In an attempt to reboot the trading partnership, Mr Cameron will take 120 businesspeople with him next week, the largest British trade delegation put together, much larger than the one he took to China in 2011. The delegation will include Ralf Speth, chief executive of Jaguar Land Rover, who is opening a new training centre in Beijing, as well as a string of other FTSE 100 executives. They include George Weston, chief executive of Associated British Foods, Jorma Ollila, chairman of Royal Dutch Shell, Xavier Rolet, London Stock Exchange chief executive and Peter Sands, head of Standard Chartered bank. Stephen Crisp, JLR's global director of government affairs, said the trip represented a "huge opportunity" for the companies involved. It shows the UK's long-term commitment to the country. But also the prime minister will be followed by Chinese politicians wherever he goes, and that will make sure they notice us. Sir Andrew Witty, chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline, will also join the trade mission despite the company having admitted it may have violated Chinese law with its sales practices. The company is being investigated by the Chinese authorities over allegations that it bribed Chinese doctors to prescribe its medicines, but has since said it will change its commissions model. Mr Cameron may use the opportunity to lobby Beijing on the pharmaceutical group's behalf during the four-day visit. The visit is expected to produce deals, but it is as important for its symbolism as it is for signing contracts. For the last 18 months, the prime minister has not been able to meet his Chinese counterparts, while more junior ministers, such as Lord Green, the trade minister, and Jeremy Browne, the former Foreign Office minister, have had meetings in Beijing cancelled at the last minute. The official deep freeze began in May 2012 when Mr Cameron met the Dalai Lama in London, which the Chinese foreign ministry said "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people." That damage was only repaired when Mr Cameron told the Commons in May that the UK did not support Tibetan independence, a statement that paved the way for George Osborne, the chancellor, and Boris Johnson, the London mayor, to travel to China last month. Western diplomats in Beijing however say the UK has given up too much in its bid to attract Chinese money. One senior Beijing-based Asian diplomat called Britain's position over the Dalai Lama "total capitulation." Downing Street insists it has sacrificed relatively little to win its way back into Beijing, pointing out that the Tibet statement was merely a restatement of the government position. The statement also falls well short of the joint statements with Beijing that both France and Germany had to sign after they suffered a similar reaction following meetings with the Dalai Lama. Having secured separate dinners with both Mr Xi and Mr Li, British officials may now feel the sacrifices they did make were justified.