New momentum for ties

Growing mutual understanding is enabling China and UK to inject new vitality into their relations after recent setbacks

British Prime Minister David Cameron's official three-day visit to China starting Monday will mark the renormalization of political relations between China and the United Kingdom after the difficulties of the past one and a half years.

No one can doubt the importance of their relations. The two countries established the mechanism of regular meetings between the heads of government at an early stage and, for quite some time, UK investment in China has been the largest among European countries. Their cooperation in education and cultural exchanges is also is at the forefront of cooperation between China and other European countries. There are 130,000 Chinese students studying in Britain, the highest among European countries.

There have been suggestions that since the outbreak of the debt crisis in the eurozone - especially after Cameron announced that the country would hold a referendum on its membership of the European Union - the UK's influence in the EU has dropped significantly. However, this kind of argument is somewhat overstated, it is true that the UK is unlikely to join the euro any time soon, but it is hard to imagine a UK withdrawal from the EU.

Inside the EU, Britain is a partner that China can rally support from. For example, Britain supports the EU recognizing China's full market economy status. In trade relations, Britain has been adhering to the principle of free trade and opposed the EU imposing definitive anti-dumping and countervailing duties on Chinese products. The UK also has a positive, open attitude to Chinese investment.

For China, the importance of ties with the UK go beyond the bilateral scope. As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, bilateral cooperation in the UN and other multilateral institutions is of vital significance to regional and global development and security.

The UK has attached greater importance to advancing relations with China. In 2009, the British Labor government issued its first China strategy paper, "The UK and China: A Framework for Engagement", which states that China's impact on UK interests is already critical and it is growing, Chinese markets and investments are increasingly important for British businesses and China is "a major priority" in the UK's foreign policy.

When the coalition government came to power in 2010, the UK was in an economic recession due to the international financial crisis and the debt crisis in the eurozone. High hopes are placed on emerging economies, especially China, for sustaining the UK's economic growth. Cameron visited China the same year he assumed office in 2010 and expressed strong willingness to strengthen economic cooperation with China.

Last week, while attending the leaders' meeting of China and countries in Central and Eastern Europe in Bucharest, Romania, Premier Li Keqiang pointed out that mutual respect is an important basis for China to develop relations with countries in Central and Eastern Europe. For China and the UK to develop a mutually beneficial and stable partnership, the two sides should also respect each other's major concerns. This is one of the lessons that the UK has learned from the past setbacks in bilateral relations.

Since October, several British cabinet ministers and the mayor of London have visited China in swift succession. Prior to this, Cameron said in the House of Commons that the British government recognizes the Tibet autonomous region as part of China, and he was seeking a "strong and positive" relationship with China. Relations seem to have bottomed out. Now, the two sides should take advantage of Cameron's visit as a favorable opportunity to actively promote bilateral cooperation to achieve greater and faster progress.

Trade and investment will continue to be the priority for their cooperation. From January to October, bilateral trade between the two countries continued to grow, reaching a total volume of $56.1 billion, and bilateral trade is expected to hit $100 billion by 2015. With the acceleration of China's urbanization and the promotion of a new round of economic reforms, the two sides can tap the great potential of cooperation in financial services, banking, healthcare and other services.

In recent years, bilateral cooperation in investment has witnessed remarkable progress. Chinese investment in the UK reached $8 billion last year, and the UK has become the fourth largest destination for Chinese investment. At the 16th China-EU Summit held in November, the start of negotiations for a China-EU Investment Agreement was announced. China and the UK should work together to make progress in the negotiations. In addition, the two sides should further encourage economic cooperation between provinces and cities.

Cultural, education and personnel exchanges should also be one of the priorities of bilateral cooperation in the coming years. Currently, China has established a high-level dialogue mechanism with the United States, Russia, the UK and the EU. The UK also has the largest number of Confucius Institutes and Confucius Classrooms in Europe. All these initiatives will undoubtedly help deepen understanding between the two peoples. Britain's creative industry, which was on show at the UK Pavilion during the 2010 Shanghai Expo, impressed many Chinese people and in the future the two sides can strengthen cooperation in this industry.

Needless to say, the two sides have differences on some international issues, but they have no geopolitical conflict and maintaining regional and global peace and stability is in the fundamental interests of both sides. In fact, in the fields of achieving the Millennium Development Goals, tackling climate change, preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and promoting reform of multilateral international institutions, the two sides have been engaged in important negotiations and cooperation. In the future, China and the UK should further strengthen cooperation in response to regional and international hotspot issues as well as global governance.

The author is vice-president of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.