Chinese ambassador hails economic partnership with UK

LONDON, Nov. 21 -- The economic partnership between China and the United Kingdom (UK) has always been "a ballast and propeller" for China-UK relations, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang said here on Thursday.

"Such cooperation has played an important role in our respective economic developments and brought tangible benefits to people in both countries," Zheng said in his speech at the seventh China-UK Economic and Trade Forum.

Counting Hong Kong in, the annual bilateral trade between China and the UK has surpassed 110 billion pounds (139 billion U.S. dollars) and the two-way investment stock is over 130 billion pounds, according to Zheng.

President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer met on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Monday, agreeing on the direction for bilateral relations and the actions to be taken.

"We stand ready to work with the UK side to follow up on the common understanding between the two leaders and enhance dialogue, communication and collaboration wherever possible," the ambassador said.

Zheng called on the two governments to reactivate dialogue on economy, finance, trade and many other areas.

"We need to strengthen cooperation in trade and investment, clean energy, financial services, and medical services. Collaboration in AI, climate change, education, culture, technology and tourism should also be expanded," he noted.

Companies should also be encouraged to explore third-party market cooperation, which will help them to fully complement each other's strengths and achieve win-win results, Zheng added.

The ambassador called on the business communities to seize the opportunities, jointly break new ground in China-UK economic and trade cooperation, and make greater contributions to the sustained and sound development of China-UK relations.

Speaking at the forum, UK's investment minister Poppy Gustafsson also stressed the importance of a constructive dialogue between China and the UK.

"As the prime minister has asserted, we want our relations to be consistent, durable and respectful," Gustafsson said, noting that there has already been "significant engagement with China" under the new government which came into office in July.

She acknowledged that while China and the UK have differences in certain areas, fostering cooperation remains crucial, "because that's how we drive growth together and realize a more prosperous future for both the UK and for China." (1 pound = 1.26 U.S. dollar)