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* Cameron in first China trip since Dalai Lama row last year
* British PM's priority is to deepen economic ties
* Cameron pushes EU-China trade agreement
* EU executive says such talks are premature
By Andrew Osborn and Ben Blanchard
BEIJING, Dec 2 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister DavidCameron promised China's leaders on Monday he would advocate amulti-billion-dollar free trade deal between Beijing and theEuropean Union, riling the EU executive which rejected the moveas premature.
On a three-day visit with around 100 business people, thelargest-ever British mission of its kind, Cameron said Britainwas the Western country most open to Chinese investment andwell-placed to take advantage of China's market liberalisation.
"China's transformation is one of the defining facts of ourlifetime ... I see China's rise as an opportunity, not just forthe people of this country but for Britain and the world,"Cameron told reporters after meeting Premier Li Keqiang at theGreat Hall of the People in Beijing.
China is the world's second largest economy, after theUnited States.
Cameron, who later met President Xi Jinping, cast Britain asfar more progressive on trade than other EU member states inremarks that stirred a spat with Brussels over the issue.
"Some in Europe and elsewhere see the world changing andwant to shut China off behind a bamboo curtain of tradebarriers," said Cameron. "Britain wants to tear those tradebarriers down."
His approach irritated the European Commission, which isprivately understood to oppose a trade deal on the grounds thatit risks flooding the 28-nation bloc with cheap Chinese imports.
"We believe that it is premature at this stage to discuss afree trade agreement with China," Alexandre Polack, a spokesmanfor the EU executive, told reporters.
He said the EU and China were already discussing a possibleinvestment agreement and should stick to that for now.
At home, Cameron's trade initiative is likely to be seizedon by opponents as he has placed a question mark over Britain'sEU membership by promising a referendum on leaving the bloc ifre-elected in 2015. That sits awkwardly with his campaign tohelp broker a deal for a club his country may soon leave.
"I've said to Premier Li that I will champion an EU-Chinatrade deal with as much determination as I'm championing theEU-U.S. trade deal," Cameron said.
Li said both sides had agreed to fight protectionism andpush for trade and investment liberalisation. China, he said,welcomed Britain's open attitude to Chinese investment.
He added that there had been a "breakthrough" between firmson both sides on high-speed rail, but gave no details.
One person familiar with the matter said China had offeredto play a role in plans for a high-speed rail link, dubbed HS2,between London and the north of England.
HUMAN RIGHTS
British finance minister George Osborne opened the door tofurther Chinese investment during a visit to Beijing last month.He announced less stringent rules for Chinese banks operating inLondon, in a push to make the British capital the main offshorehub for trading in China's currency and bonds.
Osborne also paved the way for Chinese investors to takemajority stakes in future British nuclear plants.
Campaigners have often accused Cameron of putting tradebefore human rights. On this trip, activists wanted him to raisewhat they described as rights abuses in Tibet.
A senior source in his office said before the trip thatBritain had turned the page on a rift with China over Tibet, andthat Cameron had no plans to meet the Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiledspiritual leader, again.
An encounter last year angered Beijing.
Asked after his meetings whether he had raised Tibet orChina's imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo in histalks, Cameron said he had spoken "about all those issues", butdeclined to go into detail.
He denied that such trade trips presented a stark choicebetween trade and human rights advocacy. "I raise them both.That's what a policy of engagement is all about," he said.
Cameron also brought up GlaxoSmithKline's problemsin China - where it is being investigated for alleged bribery -with political leaders as the drugmaker emphasised itscommitment to doing business there. S
Cameron had earlier visited a training academy for JaguarLand Rover sales staff as the carmaker unveiled a deal worth 4.5billion pounds ($7.38 billion) to provide 100,000 cars to theNational Sales Company in China.
England's Premier League also announced an agreement withthe Chinese Super League to develop football in China.
