LONDON, May 5 (Xinhua) -- Chinese ambassador to Britain on Tuesday pledged that his country will continue deepening reform and opening its market wider to the world, which will not be held back by COVID-19.

Liu Xiaoming said at the China-Britain Business Council Webinar that China's success in the past 40 plus years is attributed to reform and opening up.

"Going forward, deeper reform and further opening up will continue to enable China to achieve even greater success," the ambassador said.

Liu said the Chinese government is implementing fully the policy of pre-establishment national treatment plus a negative list and it is also working on shortening the negative list, and promoting the building of pilot free trade zones and free trade ports.

The 127th China Import and Export Fair will take place online in June, and the third China International Import Expo will be held in November. Both events will create valuable opportunities for the mutually-beneficial cooperation between China and the rest of the world, he said.

Liu also said that China and the UK are engaging in discussions on the arrangements for a free trade agreement.

"I believe that in building an open world economy, China and the UK will find new impetus for their trade and economic cooperation in the future," he said. "Our two countries could also identify important opportunities for revitalizing the world economy."