Why is Rachel Reeves in China?

The British Chancellor of the Exchquer and first woman in that role, Rachel Reeves, has flown to China with a bevy of businessmen to do deals with Beijing. It seems extraordinarily ill-timed, just as Donald Trump and his take-on-China policy is about to be launched once he starts as the 47th president of the United States on January 20. Of course the UK is an independent country and can do sort of what it likes in terms of trade etc. After all, following Brexit, we don't have to follow the rules laid down by Brussels. But the UK is part of a western alliance that has to be strong on everything in order to combat the ambitions of countries such as China and Russia, and China in particular. So the arrival of Rachel Reeves in Beijing to persuade China to invest in the UK and do lots of lovely trade deals might not go down that well with the soon-to-be US president. Who cares, one might ask? Well, even the Labour Government has stressed the importance of protecting and burgeoning the so-called special relationship with the US, and yet the Reeves trip migbht do the opposite. Also, it looks like Reeves is acknowledging that her own attempts to boost the UK economy have failed dismally and so she is relying on China to help out. Not good.