China has done "large scale" abuses to human rights, British deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said on the first day of Premier Li Keqiang's three-day visit to London.

Clegg also said China's fast growth will pressure the government to grant "political emancipation" to its own citizens, The Telegraph relayed.

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Britain's ties with China have gone cold after Clegg and Prime Minister David Cameron met with the Dalai Lama. However, Clegg said he did not regret pushing through with the meeting and even hopes to meet with the exiled Tibetan leader again.

Li's visit to London is expected to produce billions of pounds' worth of trade ties and investment infrastructure. The Chinese Delegate will be meeting with various British officials and business leaders.

In 2012, London cancelled Cameron's trip to Beijing after the two nations had differences in their stance toward the situation in Tibet and its spiritual leader. The following year, Cameron travelled to China but the rift was again ignited in April 2014 because of a Foreign Office document that sparked China's ire.

The said document criticized China's track record in human rights. Beijing promptly cancelled a scheduled meeting to talk about human rights in London.

During a press conference on Monday, Clegg said the "systematic" abuses on human rights are still happening in China, citing the widespread persecution of journalists and the implementation of death penalty in the Asian country. In spite of the record, Clegg said he hoped to achieve something with his meeting with Li and that economic growth would force China to enact political change.

Before the visit to London, Premier Li had warned Britain not to touch the topic of human rights because the Foreign Office document was "biased." Chinese ambassador to Britain, Liu Xiaoming, also said Britain had missed a lot of opportunities last year because of this issue.