British Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Hangzhou for the G20 Leaders Summit on Sept 4-5. The summit is an important platform for multilateral cooperation. This year's summit is especially meaningful for China and the UK, since it offers a good opportunity for the British prime minister to have her first face-to-face communication with Chinese leaders. I hope both sides will seize this opportunity to forge stronger trust and closer friendship. This can enable plans for the bilateral institutional dialogues and lay a solid foundation for the long-term growth of China-UK relations.
Second, we must stay committed to open and results-based cooperation. In today's world, no country can develop by itself behind closed doors. A zero-sum game leads nowhere, while win-win cooperation is the way forward. China and the UK, as the world's second- and fifth-largest economies, have much to offer to each other, for example through trade, investment, finance, science and technology, and many other areas. The untapped potential is huge.
Prime Minister May has promised a one-nation government that works for everyone in the UK and a development strategy that delivers a more balanced economy. These ideas are shared by China in its 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) and the Belt and Road Initiative. China and the UK could dovetail their respective development strategies and, in this way, bring more benefits to our two peoples and make "one plus one more than two".
After the UK voted to leave the EU, many Chinese companies cast a "vote of confidence" in the UK economy with real actions. Tianjin Airlines, a subsidiary of China's Hainan Airlines Group, opened a direct flight route connecting Tianjin, Chongqing and London. Sichuan Guodong Construction Group announced its plan to invest 220 million pounds ($288 million) in housing projects in Sheffield over the next three years. China Gezhouba Group has also expressed an interest in the UK's water conservancy projects, to the tune of roughly a billion pounds. I hope that Britain will continue to be pragmatic and stay open to Chinese businesses.
Third, we must stay true to a global vision. China and the UK are both permanent members of the UN Security Council and leading members of the G20; these roles enable both nations to collaborate with each other in promoting world peace, prosperity and stability. The increasing strategic and global nature of China-UK ties takes our relationship far beyond the bilateral scope.
I believe that China and the UK can further expand cooperation in the global arena. We can make our due contributions to world peace, prosperity and development by working together to advance reforms of the global economic governance. In addition, both countries can promote cooperation in sustainable development, counter-terrorism, anti-corruption, antimicrobial resistance and UN peacekeeping.
The famous British scientist Charles Darwin is reported to have said: "It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change." In times of change, wise strategic choices and strong, far-sighted leadership are needed more than anything. China always takes a strategic and long-term perspective toward its relationship with the UK. I hope the UK will do the same and our two countries will join hands to write a new chapter for China-UK relations.
By Liu Xiaoming
The author is the Chinese ambassador to the UK.
