China is willing to maintain exchanges at all levels with the British side and push for stable and far-reaching bilateral relations, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Friday.

Xi made the remarks during phone talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at the latter's request.

Noting that China and Britain are both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major economies in the world, Xi said the two countries should remain firm as partners, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and benefit the two countries and the world through stable and mutually beneficial China-Britain relations.

China stands ready to engage in equal dialogue with Britain on the basis of mutual respect, enhance mutual understanding and mutual trust, and make mutual benefit and win-win the main tone of China-Britain relations, Xi said.

China is also ready to strengthen synergy of development strategies with Britain, expand cooperation in such fields as finance, green economy and artificial intelligence, as well as deepen people-to-people exchanges, he said.

Starmer, for his part, said it is in the long-term interests of both sides to develop a closer cooperative relationship between Britain and China.

Strengthening cooperation in fields such as economy, trade, finance, education, clean energy, medicine and health will help promote the two countries' respective development and help respond to global challenges such as climate change, he said.

The British side hopes to strengthen contact and dialogue with China at all levels and in all fields, promote practical cooperation and institutional exchanges between the two countries to achieve positive results, and develop long-term, stable and strategic Britain-China relations in the spirit of mutual respect, said Starmer.

He said the British side is ready to maintain communication with China on major global and regional issues to contribute to world peace and stability.

He reiterated that Britain's stance on adhering to the one-China policy remains unchanged.

Xi said the Chinese side attaches great importance to the British side's desire to enhance contact and dialogue, and is willing to maintain exchanges at all levels with the British side to jointly promote world peace and development.

(With input from Xinhua)