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Chinese Vice Premier Holds Talks with British Deputy PM
Chinese Vice Premier Wu Bangguo held Tuesday talks with John Prescott, deputy prime minister and secretary of state for the environment, transport and regions of Britain, where they exchanged views on bilateral ties and international issues of common concern.
Wu believed that the Deputy Prime Minister's current visit is of great significance to bilateral ties.
He highly valued the continuous development of bilateral relations this year, saying the maintenance of regular high-level contacts have helped deepen mutual understanding and stimulate bilateral cooperation.
Economic and trade volume has kept increasing, he said, citing the fact in the first eight months that trade volume has reached 6.2 billion U.S. dollars, up 30 percent year-on-year. Wu expects the total trade volume of this year will surpass that of 1999.
He said Britain is still ahead of other EU members in its investment in China, its cooperation with China in all fields has been active and fruitful, and the two have also increased dialogue and coordination in world affairs.
Although China and Britain are divergent over certain issues, so long as they handle relations from a strategic height and a long-term perspective and respect each other on the basis on equality and mutual benefit, they can realize a consistent and steady progress in bilateral relations, Wu said.
Prescott agreed with Wu on his assessment of bilateral ties, adding that Britain highly values its friendship with China and is happy with the momentum in this regard. Britain is willing to work together with China to further promote cooperation in all fields, he said.
Prescott also voiced appreciation over China's efforts in protecting the environment and trying to achieve sustainable development, expressing the belief there's broad cooperative prospects between the two countries in these sectors.
Wu briefed Prescott on China's economic situation and its strategic development of the vast western area, inviting more business-people from Britain to participate in China's economic construction.
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