Shanghai: Britain's Prince William practised sports diplomacy in China yesterday, striding onto the football pitch at a Shanghai school. Wearing a dark blue suit, he stopped a stray ball, tapped it twice with his black shoe before giving it a confident kick on the artificial turf.


Prince William. Pic/AFP 

His trip to China, making him the highest-profile royal visitor since Queen Elizabeth II in 1986, has been laden with symbolism as Britain attempts to improve top-level diplomatic relations with Beijing.