Bloomberg Reporter Barred From Press Event With Chinese Premier The reporter, Robert Hutton, was not allowed to attend an event at which Mr. Cameron and Mr. Li read prepared statements Monday inside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. The ban was probably in retaliation for Bloomberg News's critical coverage of the Chinese leadership. The organization's website was blocked last year after it published a story about the wealth of the families of Chinese leaders including Xi Jinping, who was then vice president and is now China's top boss. Bloomberg reporters trying to enter China on new reporting assignments have also not received journalist visas. Mr. Hutton and Bloomberg representatives declined to comment. The New York Times recently reported that Bloomberg News decided not to publish an investigative piece by its China journalists that examined connections between the Chinese leadership and China's wealthiest man, Wang Jianlin. Bloomberg employees said the top editors chose to withhold publication out of concerns that the news outlet would face further retaliation that would limit access to China. Bloomberg News editors responded that the story had not been killed but was not yet ready for publication. The New York Times has also had its English- and Chinese-language websites blocked and has not received new journalist visas in China following its publication of stories about the wealth of family members of former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. The press event from which Bloomberg's reporter was excluded featured short statements from Mr. Cameron and Mr. Li, but no questions were taken from reporters. The leaders spoke positively of warming trade ties between the two countries and discussed cooperation on high-speed rail and nuclear power. Mr. Cameron has said on this trip that he hoped to make Britain the strongest representative of China in the West as it sought greater opportunities for trade and investment abroad, and he vowed to push for a trade deal between China and the European Union. Relations between the two sides had deteriorated after China's government was angered by Mr. Cameron's meeting last year with the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader loathed by Beijing. In recent weeks, the British government had taken steps to assuage Chinese anger, including saying there were no plans for more Dalai Lama meetings. In an editorial in its Chinese- and English-language editions, the Communist Party-run Global Times cast doubt on any improvement in relations, saying this visit "can hardly be the end of the conflict between China and the U.K." "The Cameron administration should acknowledge that the U.K. is not a big power in the eyes of the Chinese," the paper said. It is just an old European country apt for travel and study. This has gradually become the habitual thought of the Chinese people. The exclusion of Bloomberg's reporter was an indication that sensitive political issues can continue to crop up in relations with China even as Western leaders try to smooth ties. In a written statement, Mr. Cameron's office said that it protested Mr. Hutton's exclusion after learning of it a day before the press event. "As soon as this issue became apparent on Sunday, we raised our concerns at senior levels and made clear it would be completely inappropriate to exclude journalists from the press statements," Mr. Cameron's office said. When we heard what had happened today we expressed our deep concern to senior Chinese officials about journalists being blocked. The Guardian reported that Mr. Cameron raised the issue of Mr. Hutton's exclusion as he left a dinner with President Xi. In response to a question about the exclusion of the reporter, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that space was an issue. "We made arrangements based on this principle, and this was no different than in previous years," he said during a regularly scheduled press conference. The Chinese government has barred some news organizations from press events in the past. While the exact reasons generally aren't spelled out, the move is often seen as retaliation for aggressive coverage. Last year, Bloomberg News and The New York Times weren't invited to a media event at the end of the 18th Communist Party Congress at which the new Politburo Standing Committee, the top echelon of Chinese political leadership, was unveiled. In late November, the Chinese authorities conducted surprise business inspections of Bloomberg News bureaus in Beijing and Shanghai, Fortune magazine reported Monday. When asked about the inspections, Hong Lei, the foreign ministry spokesman, said that overseas media outlets are "handled according to the law." Last month, Bloomberg also posted a job advertisement for a Beijing-based government affairs representative whose tasks would include developing and maintaining relationships with officials.