Let's take a look at the trade ties between the two countries in the so-called golden era. Trade volume between China and the UK hit 79 billion US dollars last year, with an increase of 6.2 percent year-on-year. China's exports to the UK were about 57 billion dollars, while imports reached over 22 billion dollars. Britain is China's second largest trading partner within the European Union, while China is Britain's second largest non-EU trading partner. Britain was the first major Western country to join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank as a founding member.