Britain's Treasury chief is travelling to China this weekend to discuss economic and financial cooperation between the countries, as the UK's Labour government seeks to reset ties with Beijing.

The Treasury on Friday said that Rachel Reeves would travel to Beijing and Shanghai and would meet with her counterpart, Vice Premier He Lifeng.

Reeves' trip is expected to revive the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue — annual bilateral talks that have been suspended since 2019.

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and the UK Financial Conduct Authority's chief executive, Nikhil Rathi, are also in the delegation, according to the Treasury.

Representatives from some of Britain’s biggest financial services firms will join the trip.

Officials did not provide details, but media reports have said senior executives from HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered were included.

Reeves' visit comes after Foreign Secretary David Lammy travelled to China in October and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Brazil in November.

The meetings form part of a bid by Starmer, who was elected as leader in July, to strengthen political and economic ties with China, the UK's fifth-largest trading partner.

Officials said Starmer wanted a “pragmatic” approach to working with Beijing on global stability, climate change and the transition to clean energy. (AP)