In call with UK’s Keir Starmer, China’s Xi Jinping urges long-term view of ties
- Chinese state broadcaster CCTV says the call was made at Starmer’s request
The call, made at Starmer’s request, is the first between Xi and a British prime minister since March 2022, when the president spoke with then leader Boris Johnson.
“China is willing to carry out dialogue on an equal footing with the British side on the basis of mutual respect, understanding and trust … to make mutual benefit and win-win cooperation the main keynotes of China-UK relations,” Xi was quoted as saying.
Xi said China attached great importance to Britain’s desire to step up engagement and dialogue, and was willing to maintain exchanges with the British side at all levels to promote stable and far-reaching China-UK relations.
He said the two countries could expand cooperation in finance, the green economy, artificial intelligence and people-to-people exchanges.
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According to the Chinese foreign ministry, Starmer said that developing a closer relationship was in the long-term interests of both countries and he expressed hope of cooperation in a range of areas from the economy to clean energy and climate change.
