The new deal means customers can book seats on flights to Shenyang, Harbin, Changchun and Dalian on ba.com.

The two-leg journeys will see BA operate flights to Shanghai, from which they can connect on to Shenyang, Harbin and Changchun while flights to Beijing offer connections to Dalian and Changchun.

British Airways offers 10 weekly flights to Shanghai and seven to Beijing, departing from Heathrow.

As part of the codeshare agreement, British Airways Executive Club members can collect Avios when booking on the British Airways code on China Southern Airlines flights.

Alex Cruz, chief executive of British Airways, said: "We are excited by today’s announcement, which will help to drive tourism and economic and cultural exchange between the UK and China, by facilitating reciprocal leisure and business travel.

“Now we need the British government to take urgent action on its visa policy by making it easier for Chinese businesses and tourists to come to the UK.

“China is the world’s second largest economy and we need to do all we can to encourage these trade links. This is even more critical post Brexit.”