An MP has been suspended from the Labour Party, the UK's main opposition to Boris Johnson's government, after being accused of making racist comments regarding China.

Neil Coyle was said to have made the offensive remarks during a discussion with a journalist last week in the bar in the country's parliament building.

After news of his suspension broke, Coyle said he was "very sorry for his insensitive comments."

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Business Insider journalist Henry Dyer, who's British Chinese, said he had objected to how Coyle had referred to China when discussing Christine Lee a lawyer who donated money to a British politician. Lee was reported by the UK security services to be acting on behalf of Beijing, accusations the Chinese embassy in London described as "smears" and attempts to intimidate the Chinese community. The UK government has taken no action against Lee.

Dyer said Coyle had responded to his reprimand by suggesting that the journalist looked "like you've been giving renminbi" to MPs.

Dyer reported the incident to the parliamentary authorities and the Labour Party today said it had decided to suspend its MP pending an investigation.

"The Labour Party expects the highest standards of behavior from our MPs and we take allegations of this sort very seriously," a spokesman said.