The British government has proposed that Prime Minister Keir Starmer visit Beijing and Shanghai from January 29-31, according to two sources familiar with the plan.
The trip could be postponed if Beijing decides that a lack of progress on approving China's contentious plan to build what would be Europe's largest embassy in London represents too significant a political setback for the leaders to meet.
A decision could be agreed upon by the end of this week, one source added.
The British embassy in Beijing and Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Britain delayed on Tuesday for a third time the decision on the embassy, and is now due to rule by January 20 on whether the project can go ahead.
Starmer accused Britain's previous Conservative government of overseeing a deteriorating relationship with China, which he called a "dereliction of duty".
He said in a speech on Monday that since 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron had visited China twice and German leaders four times, but the last British leader to do so was former Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018.
China's plans for a new embassy on the site of a two-century-old building near the Tower of London have stalled for the past three years because of opposition from local residents, lawmakers and Hong Kong pro-democracy campaigners in Britain.
Concerns that the new embassy could be used as a base for spying have prompted politicians in Britain and the U.S. to urge the government to block Beijing's plans.
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