“The United Kingdom has stated that it will be the Western country that is most open to China”.
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President Xi Jinping’s state visit here will usher in a new “golden era” in British Chinese relations, we are told.
The last state visit from China was by President Hu Jintao in 2005.
We learn that there is a sort of “exchange program” between China’s Longjiang Road Primary School and UK’s Dane Royd.
Britain is also a founding member of the AIIB. China has been Britain’s second largest non-EU trading partner.
Financial cooperation has been a highlight in China-Britain cooperation.
In a written interview with Reuters, Xi said: “As an economy closely linked to worldwide markets, China can not stay immune to the lacklustre performance of the global economy”.
“Countries will approach these issues in different ways”.
While official figures estimate foreign direct investment from China from 2004 to 2013 amounted to $8bn, Ms Yan’s studies of mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures indicate that the total is closer to $50bn, indicating the enormous scale of flows into the UK.
Chinese state media hailed a quadrupling in annual bilateral trade over the past decade to a few 80 billion dollars previous year.
Development strategies of both countries can be enriched through cooperation. “Due to differences in social systems and ideologies between China and Western countries, the bilateral relationship is tarnished by a few noises, or even disturbances and sabotage”.
In recent years, London has expressed goodwill towards Beijing.
“In the first place, the number of students from both countries has expanded”. Britain, on the other hand, posted annual growth of less than 3% in the same period.
Here is a quick look at how Britain lags, and what Cameron wants to do about it.
Xi’s visit, which starts in earnest today after his expected arrival last night, is likely to include the announcement of massive infrastructure deals and the launch of a yuan-denominated sovereign bond.
The two sides are looking to explore new areas that will bring mutual benefits, according to Feng.
“They know China much much better now compared to say five years ago”.
There are obvious opportunities for Europe and China to cooperate in third markets in regions where there is a development need, said a former senior British official.
Mr Xi called on Britain and other countries to avoid what he characterised as bias against Chinese companies, as Beijing supports firms in fields from high-speed rail to nuclear technology in efforts to compete for contracts overseas.
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Many observers have lamented the British government’s outwardly soft line on pushing China to improve its human rights. Xi is set to meet UK Prime Minister David Cameron at his countryside villa in Chequers.
