China is ready to “join hands with British friends from all sectors” to build a lasting Sino-UK relationship that benefit people of both countries, said Liu Xiaoming, China’s ambassador to the UK in an speech to members of the UK parliament on Tuesday.
In his speech, Liu discussed the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China which concluded last month, and the meaning of China’s “new era” and opportunities to strengthen China-UK ties.
“China is at a new historic juncture,” said Liu, “China’s main task now is to address the imbalances and inadequacies in our development in order to meet the people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. This will determine what policies and strategies China will adopt.”
Liu said China’s new objectives in the next 15 years, include “completing the building of a moderately prosperous society” and “building a modern socialist country”.
“I want to stress that China will stay open to the world. We will only open wider. Here, the Belt and Road will be a priority. We will strive for shared growth through discussion and collaboration with partners,” he said.
Liu also urged MPs to “see the complete picture of the Congress, see China in the long run and keep our mind open and updated”.
“When interpreting China’s path and China’s development, one should abandon the cold-war mentality and do away with the old-fashioned logic of power politics and zero-sum game,” he said.
As Sino-UK ambassadorial diplomatic relations enters their 45th year, the Ambassador said that the 19th Congress also brought opportunities for consolidating China-UK relations.
“The first opportunity comes from China’s development policies. China will roll out more measures that focus on improving lives of the people and stimulating growth. These new favourable policies will create more opportunities for closer cooperation between China and the world, Britain included,” he said.
Liu said more opportunities exist in “China’s booming development for international collaboration”.
“China and Britain both have a broad consensus in upholding free trade, supporting economic globalisation and improving global economic governance, and our cooperation in these areas has been effective,” Liu said.
About 70 representatives, including MPs, government officials, and academics attended the speech.
