The beginning of the golden era

Chinese President Xi Jinping (C) and his wife Peng Liyuan (3rd L) arrive in London, Britain, Oct. 19, 2015, for a state visit to Britain at the invitation of Queen Elizabeth II. [Photo/Xinhua]

In the last few months we have seen a rapid growth in the co-operation between China and the UK. What British Prime Minister David Cameron calls "our golden era" is dawning on Chinese British relationships, first with the arrival of British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's visit to China and now with the Chinese state visit by President Xi Jinping to Britain. The British government has committed itself to becoming "China's best partner in the west". But what does this mean for our relationship? What has come of this co-operation?

Sean Boyce

For one, there is the increasing development and investment in British infrastructure by China. There is investment in the Hinkley point nuclear power station, along with the HS2 high speed railway line being built. On top of this we shall also see an increase in trade between China in Britain. This is in accordance with Xi Jin Ping's foreign policy of 互助共贏 known in English as a win-win situation. This policy seems to be working for China with many countries having benefited greatly from Chinese investment and China also benefiting from increased trade and improved foreign relations. Hopefully upon the state visit to Britain and in the future we shall see the fruition of this win-win policy, and its beneficial impact on both China and Britain.

I personally am looking forward to having a new rail system to return to. My experience of the current system has been lackluster, trains being delayed, overpriced, uncomfortable and horridly slow. In comparison, the Chinese rail system is more like flying on a plane, comfortable seats, so smooth you can balance a coin on its side and it won't fall over (as we have seen in some popular videos), noiseless and on time.

Many in the British media seem skeptical of this, yet more and more are beginning to understand that this is in fact a big step forward for Britain and for China. Such policies are paving the way for an improvement in Chinese western relationships and I personally can only see good things coming from this...Besides, it's about time we had some trains in Britain that could run on time.