British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives in Beijing on Monday morning to kick off the highest-level bilateral exchange since a dispute over the Dalai Lama severely impacted relations last year.

The trip is widely expected to mark a "turning point" in Britain's ties with China, both economically and politically, and touch upon major projects such as nuclear energy and high-speed rail, observers said.

"The UK is looking to finally remove any lingering tensions which came from the meeting last year between Cameron and the Dalai Lama," said David Dickinson, an expert on the Chinese economy at the University of Birmingham.