British society focuses on Starmer's visit to China: China is of great importance to Britain

London, January 28th (Xinhua) - British Prime Minister Stammer led a delegation to Beijing on January 28th to begin his official visit to China. For this visit, British political, business, and cultural figures have spoken out, emphasizing that China, as the world's second largest economy and the UK's third largest trading partner, has irreplaceable significance for the UK's economic development, livelihood security, and other aspects.

Stamer's visit is the British Prime Minister's second visit to China after eight years. Since taking office, the British Labour government has clearly expressed its willingness to develop a coherent, lasting, and strategic relationship with China, and actively promote dialogue and cooperation between the two countries. It is reported that Stamer led dozens of executives and representatives from major British companies to follow up, covering advantageous areas such as finance, medicine, manufacturing, culture, and creativity, fully reflecting the UK's keen expectation for deepening bilateral economic and trade relations.

Stamer pointed out that in the past, the UK's wavering policy towards China led to missed opportunities, but now China's influence has deeply affected the lives of the British people, and China is crucial to the UK. Data shows that trade between China and the UK directly supports 370000 British jobs, and China's crucial position in the global supply chain is an indispensable boost to the UK economy. Stamer promised that the UK will build its relationship with China with a clear and pragmatic attitude, deepen bilateral cooperation, and resolve differences through frank dialogue.

The UK Secretary of State for Business and Trade, Kyle, pointed out that the UK's advantages in financial services, advanced manufacturing, energy transformation, and other fields are highly compatible with the Chinese economy, and the lack of cooperation in the past decade urgently needs to be filled. The Economic Secretary of the UK Treasury, Rigby, focuses on financial cooperation, emphasizing that mutually beneficial cooperation between the UK financial market with a new high FTSE index and China will directly benefit employment and business development in the UK.

The positive response from the business community confirms the importance of the Chinese market. Representatives from globally renowned pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, automotive manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover, and financial giant HSBC also visited China with the delegation.

The relevant person in charge of Jaguar Land Rover stated that China is an important global automotive consumer market and an important partner for enterprise technology innovation cooperation. Deepening cooperation with China will help enterprises expand market share and promote technology research and application in fields such as new energy vehicles and intelligent driving.

HSBC values China's vitality in the global financial market and hopes to strengthen cooperation with Chinese financial institutions to provide better cross-border financial services for enterprises in both countries and promote trade and investment facilitation.

British Airways' Chief Business Officer, Lacy, stated that the company has been deeply involved in the Chinese market for many years and continues to witness the value of China UK connectivity. In the future, it will further support trade and tourism exchanges between the two countries.

In the field of cultural and scientific research, British officials also look forward to strengthening cooperation with China. The director of the Natural History Museum in the UK, Geer, stated that the museum's "Wildlife Photographer of the Year" exhibition has toured multiple cities in China over the past 15 years, and looks forward to further developing new opportunities for collaboration in research, collections, and knowledge exchange based on existing partnerships with Chinese museums.

Representatives from institutions such as the National Theatre in the UK stated that cultural exchanges can enhance emotional resonance between the two peoples and inject lasting momentum into the UK China relationship.

Observers point out that the voices of the British political, business, and cultural circles clearly convey the consensus of the British side: China is crucial to the economic growth, employment stability, and cultural prosperity of the UK, and deepening pragmatic cooperation is in the common interests of both countries. (End)