China-UK Relations: Two nations call for free trade, multilateralism, agree to boost ties

World
Europe

03:02

Ahead of his trip to Malaysia, Foreign Minister Wang Yi hosted his British counterpart Jeremy Hunt in Beijing. The two led the 9th China-UK Strategic Dialogue on Monday, affirming their willingness to protect free trade and multilateralism while strengthening their "golden era" of relations. Yang Zhao has the story.

Voicing consensus after talks.

JEREMY HUNT BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY "We had very comprehensive discussions about areas where we are in strong agreement, such as the importance of free trade and building prosperity across the world, in upholding rules-based international order."

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "Under current conditions, China and the UK, as UNSC permanent members, should take a clear-cut stance in upholding the rules-based international order, and the WTO-cored multilateral mechanism, and resist unilateralism and protectionism in any form."

Their fresh endorsements of free trade come amid trade tensions around the world, with tariffs being imposed left and right. Hunt's visit to China is his first outside Europe since taking the job as the UK's top diplomat this month. His mission was clear.

JEREMY HUNT BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY "We in the UK think that the rise of China and China's economy and Chinese power can and must be a positive force in the world and we want to work very hard to strengthen and deepen our relationship to make sure that's the case."

The foundation of this bilateral relationship is booming trade. In the first quarter of 2018, British exports to China rose by over eight percent from the previous year. And British imports from China rose by more than a tenth in the same period. In 2017, the two nations bought and sold 79 billion US dollars worth of goods from each other, up by 6-point-2 percent. This rise is expected to continue.

WANG YI CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTER "We agreed to create synergies between our development strategies, expand the scales of our trade and bilateral investment, and focus on promoting cooperation in the fields of nuclear power, finance, innovation, et cetera."

China also offered to open discussions about a possible UK-China free trade deal after Brexit. In addition, China and the UK agreed to work closely together to improve cooperation on the Belt and Road Initiative. China says it looks forward to the UK's more ambitious participation in the program. Later on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang also met with Hunt.

LI KEQIANG CHINESE PREMIER "Cooperation is not only beneficial for our two countries, it's also good for the entire world."

JEREMY HUNT BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY "So I feel that the golden era is well and truly underway and there's lots more that we can do together."

YANG ZHAO, CGTN.