Blair Holds Talks with Chinese Foreign Minister

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, January 18, 2002

Blair Holds Talks with Chinese Foreign Minister

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Bilateral relations

British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Thursday held talks with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan and spoke highly of the bilateral relations.

During the talks, Tang said the relationship between China and Britain currently enjoys a good momentum of development as both sides worked very hard to promote the ties.

China attaches great importance to its relations with Britain and wants to promote the development of the bilateral relation from the attitude of strategy, Tang said.

As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, both China and Britain bear responsibility and it is very important to strengthen the exchange of views and cooperation on international and regional issues, Tang said.

Blair said his government attach great importance to the development of its ties with China and the bilateral cooperation has been very fruitful over recent years.

Views on anti-terrorism cooperation

Blair and Tang also exchanged views on the international anti-terror cooperation, the situation in South Asia and other subjects.

The Chinese foreign minister is scheduled to travel to Scotland Friday for talks with the leaders of its semi-autonomous government.

Tang, on the first visit here in five years by a Chinese foreign minister, arrived in London on Wednesday after visiting Eritrea, Ethiopia and South Africa.

Sino-British Relations

Political Relations

The two sides reached an agreement to exchange charges d'affaires on 17 June 1954 and signed the Joint Communique on the Agreement on an Exchange of Ambassadors on 13 March 1972.

The 1970s and 1980s witnessed successive visits to the UK by Chinese Premiers and the General-Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee as well as visits to China by Her Majest Queen Elizabeth II and two British Prime Ministers.

Trade and Economic Cooperation

The UK is one of the main trading partners of China in west-Europe, which has been illustrated by a continuous growth of bilateral trade volume in recent years. Sino-British trade volume in 1998 stood at US$ 6.548 billion, ranking 2nd among EU countries.

Cultural Exchanges

The two countries have experienced active cultural exchanges and frequent visits by British art troupes in recent years. Performance teams from China Symphony Orchestra and Central Nationalities Orchestra were well-received in the UK in 1998 and the artists from Royal National Theatre and Royal Academy of Music also traveled from the UK to China in the same year.

Exchanges and Cooperation in Science and Technology

In addition to the Agreement on Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the two governments signed in November 1978, over 20 agreements or memorandums have been signed by relevant departments or institutions of the two countries ever since, covering such fields as basic research, environmental protection, health, agriculture, meteorology, space and aviation.

Eductional Exchanges

Statistics indicated that over 15000 Chinese students have studied in Britain since 1978, including about 7000 in 1998. As the other way around, over 2500 self-sponsored British students have studied in China since 1980 including 428 in 1998. Programmes still under implemetation are Sino-British schorlarship exchanges.

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