Chinese President Xi Jinping
and visiting British Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed on Thursday in Beijing that the two countries should develop a long-term, stable comprehensive strategic partnership.
During their meeting, Xi said as the world today is undergoing both changes
and turbulence, China
and Britain, as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council
and major economies, should enhance dialogue
and cooperation in order to maintain world peace
and stability, while promoting the economy
and people's livelihoods of both countries.
Emphasizing the need to see history from a broader perspective, Xi called on the two countries to transcend differences
and maintain mutual respect, so that they can translate the promising potential of cooperation into remarkable accomplishments,
and open up new vistas for China-Britain relations
and cooperation to better benefit both the two peoples
and the world at large.
Stressing China's commitment to peaceful development, Xi said that China has never initiated a war, nor occupied an inch of foreign land.
China will never pose a threat to other countries no matter how it grows
and develops, he told Starmer, who arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a four-day official visit, the first by a British prime minister in eight years.
Xi said mutual benefit
and win-win results constitute the essence of economic
and trade cooperation between China
and Britain, thus the two countries should expand mutually beneficial cooperation in education, health, finance
and the service industry.
He also called on the two sides to carry out joint research
and industrial application in the fields of artificial intelligence, bioscience, new energy
and low-carbon technologies, among others, to achieve shared development
and prosperity.
"It is hoped that the British side will provide an equal, fair
and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese enterprises," Xi said, adding that both sides should enhance people-to-people
and cultural exchanges,
and further facilitate travel.
He said members of the British government, parliament
and various sectors of localities are welcome to visit China more frequently to foster a balanced, objective,
and well-grounded perception of China.
China is actively considering granting unilateral visa waiver to British people, Xi said.
Noting that the international order has for some time suffered serious disruption, Xi said international law can only be truly effective when all countries, major countries in particular, abide by it. Otherwise, the world would risk regressing to the law of the jungle, he said.
China
and Britain, as supporters of multilateralism
and free trade, should jointly advocate
and practice true multilateralism,
and facilitate the establishment of a more just
and equitable global governance system, so as to build an equal
and orderly multipolar world
and realize universally beneficial
and inclusive globalization, Xi said.
Editor:Leo
