<font color='#ff0000'>SPECIAL:</font>Sino-British economic cooperation gets in the fast lane

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SPECIAL:Sino-British economic cooperation gets in the fast lane

(People's Daily Online) 13:32, October 23, 2013

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On October 15, the fifth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue was held in Beijing. It is widely noted that the UK and China have reached a large number of policy outcomes and agreements in this high-level dialogue, in particular the fact that China will give investors based in the city the right to buy 80 billion yuan worth of stocks, bonds and money market instruments issued by financial institutions in the Chinese mainland, which further strengthens their financial cooperation.

Taking into account the 200 billion yuan currency swap agreement signed between Bank of England and People's Bank of China in June, through the dialogue, the UK’s status as an important offshore center for yuan trading is further consolidated.

*RQFII: RMB Qualified Foreign Institutional Investors

The Signing of the agreement makes sure that investors from the UK can directly use yuan to invest in China, which not only facilitates the investors, but also lays the foundation for the yuan market in London in the next stage of development.

London to develop further as yuan trading hub
China allows foreign institutional buyers to trade yuan-denominated financial products through a regime called RQFII, or Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor.As a means to encourage foreign investors to hold the yuan, the RQFII now has a global quota of 350 billion yuan. Read more

London and Beijing agree currency swap
Bank of England Governor Mervyn King and his Chinese counterpart Zhou Xiaochuan agreed to a three-year currency swap line to promote financial stability and aid trade between China and Britain.Read more

Cooperation projects inked
The deals - signed during UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's five-day trip to China - include a memorandum of understanding on civilian nuclear projects and deals to facilitate UK visa applications for staff working on infrastructure-related projects and customs clearance of equipment and materials.Read more

*Simplify Visa for Chinese

The UK will make it easier for Chinese nationals to apply for visas to visit the country, UK Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced on Monday while visiting China.

UK to simplify visa applications for Chinese
Among a number of new programs, one will allow selected Chinese travel agents to apply for UK visas simply by submitting the application form used for the EU Schengen visa and they will no longer need to submit a separate UK visa application form.Read more

*China, UK to boost trade and economic ties

Despite the difficulties brought by the euro debt crisis, China and the UK have seen a remarkable growth of trade and economic ties in recent years. The mayor of London is in China in a bid to promote the capital's trade with the country, and he has tourism and education high on the agenda.

British nuclear power plants invite Chinese investors
British Chancellor of Exchequer George Osborne on Thursday invited Chinese companies to invest in Britain's nuclear power stations and stressed high-tech cooperation between the two nations.Read more

Mayor seeks Chinese money to remake London
London Mayor Boris Johnson and his business delegation arrived in Beijing Sunday, kicking off a campaign to lure Chinese sovereign funds, banks and developers to fund an overhaul of the British capital in the years to come.Read more

UK, China to boost SME trade and investment
China and the UK place considerable emphasis on the development and contribution of SMEs to economic growth, innovation and job creation. But SMEs from both countries face similar challenges operating internationally and both need and value practical support.Read more

Comments

Yao Ling (deputy director of European Studies at Department of Commerce International Trade and Economic Cooperation Research Institute): The fifth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue has yielded fruitful results. The UK became the first European country to get RQFII Qualification, as well as the first EU country to implement the direct transaction in its own currency and yuan.

For China, in addition to the mentioned areas, the UK has agreed to relax the regulatory requirements and given permission to Chinese banks to expand their operations in the UK; it allows Chinese companies to participate in civilian nuclear projects and loosens visa requirements for Chinese business professionals.

The UK is an important economic and trade partner of China. After the international financial crisis, Chinese enterprises’ investment in the UK has become a new highlight in the cooperation between the two countries, which has effectively promoted the British economy to recover. The UK welcomes Chinese enterprises to tap into its infrastructure market; it has become the first choice for Chinese enterprises’ investment in the EU. From 2010 to 2012, Chinese companies’ investment in the UK increased 165.7 percent. The growth rate ranked first in the EU members and the amount of investment rose from the fourth to the first.

The results achieved by Sino-British economic and financial dialogue further consolidated the mutually beneficial and win-win economic and trade relations. Meanwhile, as the third largest economy in the E.U., the U.K. plays a pivotal role in trade and economic cooperation between China and Europe. With the deepening of Sino-British trade and economic relations, we have reasons to expect further growth of China-EU economic and trade relations.

（Editor：LiXiang、Hongyu）