BEIJING: The United Kingdom's top diplomat James Cleverly began a long-awaited visit to China on Wednesday as London and Beijing attempt to stabilize their relations that have frayed badly in recent years.

The trip is the first by a British foreign secretary to China in more than five years, underscoring the downturn in relations over Beijing's curbing of civil liberties in Hong Kong, a former British colony; abuses against Muslim minorities in the western Xinjiang region; China's support for Russia; and London's close security ties with the United States.