On June 29th, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming met with Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable at the CBBC Summer Reception.

Ambassador Liu first congratulated Cable on his appointment and said that the China-UK relations are in good shape since the formation of the new British government, and that President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister David Cameron recently met in Toronto and reached important consensus on the bilateral relations, agreeing that both sides should strengthen the practical cooperation in economy and trade.

Ambassador Liu pointed out that two-way trade between the two countries has seen a strong growth this year and returned to the level before the international financial crisis. Both countries advocate free trade and open markets and they have strong economic complementarities. He hoped the two sides would tap the potential for cooperation, give play to their respective comparative edges and make more progress in the China-UK economic and trade cooperation.

Cable said that the UK pays attention to developing the economic and trade relations with China. The businesses of both countries need to seize the current opportunity to expand two-way trade. The British government particularly welcomes more investment from Chinese businesses, and he himself is ready to make positive efforts to promote China-UK economic and trade cooperation.