Foreign and Military Affairs

Relations between China and Britain

(Agencies)
Updated: 2010-11-08 15:43

British Prime Minister David Cameron will visit China this week with a delegation of ministers and business leaders in the Conservative leader's first trip to the country since he took office in May.

Here are some details of British-Chinese relations:

TRADE

-- The UK is China's third largest trading partner in the EU, while China is the UK's second largest non-EU trading partner.

-- According to Chinese statistics, from January to September 2010 trade between the two countries grew to $35.75 billion, up almost 30 percent year-on-year and higher than before the financial crisis.

-- Britain ranks alongside Germany as the largest EU investor in China, and China has become the sixth largest investor in Britain. China's investment in Britain has grown from 59 projects in 2008-09 to over 74 projects in 2009-10, up 25 percent.

RECENT MAJOR VISITS

-- William Hague made his first official visit to China as foreign secretary in July.

-- Finance Minister George Osborne visited China in June, shortly after the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition took office. He said that China had managed its economy well during recent global turmoil and he hoped it was preparing to take on a larger world leadership role in financial and political affairs.

-- In January 2009, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in London as part of a European tour aimed at tackling the global financial and economic crisis and improving relations.

-- A year earlier, then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown told China on a visit that he wanted Britain to be the number one choice for Chinese trade and investment, as he sought to take the relationship to a "higher level".

-- In October 1999, at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth, Jiang Zemin paid the first state visit by a Chinese president to Britain.