In recent years China and the UK have had great cooperation and exchanges on football. In 2015, the two countries signed a Sino-UK youth football project.

The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron said the relationship between China and the UK has entered a “Golden Era”. He stressed that President Xi’s visit is the best opportunity to deepen China-UK relations. In the written interview with Reuters, President Xi said he hopes his visit to UK will chart the course for the future growth of China-UK relations, inject new impetus in practical cooperation between the two countries in all fields and enable the two sides to jointly usher in a "golden time" for China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership.

In April, 2015, China and the UK set up a joint railway working group, and are encouraging corporations and financial organizations to join the UK’s second high-speed rail project HS2. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne visited China in September, he opened the HS2 contract bidding that was worth 11.8 billion pounds.