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During my 11 years as the Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom, I had travelled extensively across the UK and engaged with people from various sectors,working hard to enhance mutual understanding and friendship between the people of our two countries and actively promoting exchanges and cooperation in various fields between China and the UK.
Over these 11 years, I had witnessed the high-point of China-UK relations. President Xi Jinping's state visit to the UK marked a significant elevation in our bilateral relationship, positioning it as a global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century.
During these 11 years, the trade in goods between China and the UK doubled. With the UK exports to China increasing approximately 20-fold, China became the third largest export market for UK goods. Chinese investment in the UK also grew about 20fold, making the UK China's second-largest investment destination in Europe. China UK financial cooperation achieved a number of“firsts”: The UK was the first to issue sovereign bonds in RMB and the first major Western country to apply to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB); China issued its first ofshore RMB sovereign bond in London; London became the world's largest ofshore RMB trading centre and the second-largest offshore RMB clearing centre, with a clearing volume exceeding 50 trillion RMB. The Shanghai-London Stock Connect, a pioneering arrangement in building connectivity between Chinese and foreign capital markets, was oficially launched and enabled several Chinese enterprises to list in London. The number of personnel exchanges between China and the UK doubled to 2 million per year; the number of Chinese students in the UK doubled to more than 220,000, making the UK the top choice for Chinese students studying abroad. The cultural, technological,and innovative exchanges and cooperation between the two countries flourished,with the UK becoming the first country to sign the Strategic Plan for Scientific and Technological Innovation Cooperation with China.
These 11 years also saw ups and downs in China-UK relations. Due to the UK's repeated interference in China's internal affairs and infringement on China's sovereignty on questions related to Xizang, Xinjiang, Hong Kong, human rights,and the South China Sea, China-UK relations suffered setbacks. Especially entering the third decade of the 21st century, against the backdrop of global changes and the worst pandemic in a century, the UK's perception and definition of China underwent significant changes and serious deviations. Once viewed as an opportunity and partner,with British leaders openly declaring their intention to make the UK China's“strongest supporter”and“best partner”in the West, China was regarded more recently as a rival and labelled as an“epoch-defining systemic challenge”in a recent strategic report.Some British politicians had been hyping up the“China threat”, declaring that the“golden era is over”and claiming that“China-UK relations cannot return to the past”.
Looking back at these 11 years, regardless of whether China-UK relations were at their peak or in a trough, I have always firmly believed that China-UK relations are an extremely important bilateral relationship for both China and the UK. China UK relations can be seen as a microcosm of China's relations with major Western countries, encompassing politics, diplomacy, economics, culture, education, science and technology, military afairs, and environmental protection. Despite the dificulties and setbacks in recent years, the significance of China-UK relations for both countries and the world has not changed. China-UK cooperation is mutually beneficial and win win; developing China-UK relations is beneficial to both sides and the world.
To help readers understand China-UK relations, I have selected 117 speeches from over 700 I had delivered during my tenure in the UK to put together this two-volume set On China-UK Relations . These speeches contain my observations and reflections on China-UK relations: What kind of China-UK relationship do we need? How to develop stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relations? And how to enhance mutual understanding and recognition between China and the UK? More chapters are dedicated to introducing exchanges and cooperation in various fields between China and the UK. I hope that after reading this book, readers will agree with the viewpoint I often express, that we have a thousand reasons to make China-UK relations better,and not a single reason to make them worse. President Xi Jinping, in his congratulatory message on the coronation of King Charles Ⅲ, expressed China's willingness to work together with the UK to enhance friendship between the peoples, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, and deepen cultural exchanges, so that a stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relationship can better benefit both countries and the world.I believe this is China's wish and the expectation of the people of both countries. I sincerely hope the UK will join us in moving towards this goal and bringing China-UK relations back to the right track at an early date.
Liu Xiaoming
Winter, 2023