Xi Jinping, the president of China, is to make his first state visit to Britain this week, 10 years after the last official visit by a Chinese leader.

The visit, from 20-23 October, has been lauded as establishing a “golden era” of bilateral relations, and comes a week after George Osborne, the chancellor, visited China to strengthen economic and financial ties. The last visit by a Chinese head of state was when Hu Jintao came in 2005 and met with a raucous protest by Tibetan and human rights campaigners.

Though there are disagreements over China’s human rights records and the former British colony of Hong Kong, the Treasury hopes China will become Britain’s second-biggest trade partner within a decade.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, have been invited to stay at Buckingham Palace and will enjoy a state banquet hosted by the Queen. But amid the pomp and ceremony, there will also be protests. The week’s events include:

Tuesday 20 October

Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall will greet the president and his wife at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel, before travelling to Horse Guards Parade for the ceremonial welcome.

A guard of honour will greet the pair at about noon on the Mall, which is decked in the flags of China and the UK. The Chinese national anthem will be played and presentations made, as the Queen and Prince Philip accompany Xi and Peng in a state carriage procession to Buckingham Palace, where the president and first lady will lunch with the Queen and view items from the Royal Collection in the picture gallery of the palace.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International and othergroups will protest in St James’s Park over the human rights violations in China, such as censorship, curbs on civil society and detention of human rights lawyers and activists.. Demonstrators will hold placards and banners with slogans in both Chinese and English with messages such as: “Rights over revenue” and “People before profit”.

Xi will address the Houses of Commons and Lords at Westminster in the afternoon.

He will then meet Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader. The private meeting was arranged to prevent an embarrassing semi-public challenge by Corbyn on China’s human rights record during the ceremonial dinner, reports say.

Later, Xi and Peng will meet Charles and Camilla at Clarence House, after seeing work by students at the Prince’s School of Traditional Arts.

The Queen will then host a state banquet for Xi and Peng. Also present will be Philip, Prince William and the Duchess of Cambridge, and politicians including David Cameron and Corbyn. Xi and the Queen will make short speeches.

Wednesday 21 October

The president is scheduled to visit Imperial College London with George Osborne, the chancellor, and Prince Andrew on the second day of his visit.



Xi will also meet William and Kate at an event at Lancaster House celebrating the partnership of the two nations, in which companies in the creative industries will be announcing new collaborations in film, TV and entertainment.

Xi will meet Cameron at Downing Street before attending the UK-China business summit at Mansion House where the focus will be on investment, infrastructure and innovation.

Afterwards, he will visit Huawei Technologies, a leading Chinese telecommunications company, followed by a banquet hosted by the Lord Mayor and the City of London at the Guildhall.

Xi is expected to use his speech at Guildhall to set out how he hopes to make London the global centre for offshore Chinese finance.

Thursday 22 October

The Chinese president will receive a formal farewell from the Queen and Philip at Buckingham Palace on the third day of his visit.

Xi will then continue with his trip, visiting Inmarsat, a British satellite telecommunications company, and later attend a conference of the Confucius Institute, the Chinese equivalent of the British Council, hosted by University College London’s Institute of Education. Later, Xi and Peng will join Cameron and his wife at Chequers for dinner before flying to Manchester.

Friday 23 October

On his final day of his state visit, Xi is scheduled to visit the National Graphene Institute at Manchester University with Osborne. Xi and the prime minister will then meet at Manchester City’s stadium, followed by lunch at Manchester town hall hosted by Paul Murphy, the Lord Mayor of Manchester, and attended by civic and business representatives.

Both leaders will then attend an event at Manchester airport, before the lord chamberlain, the senior official of the royal household, bids farewell to the Chinese president and first lady before their departure.