11th China-UK Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing

From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja

The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, have concluded the 11th China-UK Strategic Dialogue in Beijing.

Wang, a Member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, while speaking during the dialogue, said that at the beginning of this year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, successfully visited China, and the leaders of the two countries reached important consensus on building a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership.

Wang also said the new positioning reflected the historical logic of bilateral relations between China and the United Kingdom and it met the practical needs of both countries’ development, and outlined a promising vision of mutual benefit.

“Currently, exchanges and cooperation across all fields have been fully restored and are gradually getting back on track, which should be treasured. We need to further strengthen communication, implement the important consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, anchor the positioning of a China-UK long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, strengthen high-level exchanges, promote more practical and visible results, and jointly contribute to world peace, stability, prosperity and development, so as to inject more certainty into this turbulent world,” Wang said.

*Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi (r), and the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, during the 11th China-UK Strategic Dialogue held in Beijing.*

The Chinese Foreign Minister further said that over 40 years of China’s reform and opening-up had proven that openness brings progress, while closure leads only to regression.

“China is committed to high-quality development and high-level opening-up. The Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan is not only China’s own development blueprint, but also a list of opportunities for the world. It aligns closely with the UK’s modern industrial strategy. Both sides can seize these opportunities, move toward each other, and achieve mutual success. We hope the UK will provide Chinese enterprises with a fair, just and non-discriminatory business environment, define security boundaries in a reasonable way, and create a good atmosphere for developing relations and deepening cooperation,” Wang also said.

He emphasized that the current international situation was marked by intertwined changes and chaos, with the law of the jungle making a comeback.

“The international community is going through the most profound upheaval and transformation since the end of the Cold War. As permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, China and the UK bear important responsibilities for the future of the world. We should take the lead in taking the right path and upholding justice, safeguard the outcomes of World War II, abide by the U.N. Charter, uphold true multilateralism, and jointly promote a more just and reasonable global governance system,” he stated.

Wang also elaborated on China’s position, among other issues, on Taiwan and Hong Kong.

The United Kingdom’s delegation to the 11th China-UK Strategic Dialogue led by the United Kingdom’s Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper (l), during consultation with the Chinese side led by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in Beijing.

On her part, Cooper said that during Prime Minister Starmer’svisit to China in January, the leaders of the two countries agreed to build a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership, a positioning that is very important and fully in line with both sides’ interests.

She also said that given the current turbulent and complex international situation, as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, the UK and China needed to strengthen dialogue and cooperation more than ever to jointly address challenges.

“The UK is willing to work with China, follow the direction set by the leaders of the two countries, maintain close high-level exchanges, advance institutional dialogue, and deepen cooperation in trade, finance, energy, artificial intelligence, climate change and other fields.

“The UK’s policy on the Taiwan question, which has been in place since the establishment of diplomatic relations with China, has not changed and will not change.

“The UK is willing to, together with China, consistently promote the healthy and stable development of UK-China relations through candid dialogue and handling differences in a constructive way,” Cooper said.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues such as Iran and Ukraine.