Li meets with Queen Elizabeth II

Occasion a sign of UK's focus on ties: analysts

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, with analysts saying the meeting was a demonstration of the significance the UK attaches to the Sino-UK relationship.  [Special coverage]

The British Queen met former Chinese premiers Zhu Rongji and Wen Jiabao in 1998 and 2004. Meetings with the Queen usually only happen twice each year and the Queen met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in February, which makes the meeting with Li more valuable, analysts noted.

"Usually only heads of state can meet with the British Queen and it is another exceptional case for the Chinese premier, which showed how the UK values its relationship with China. It is more valuable considering the Queen's age," Wang Yiwei, director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Yang Fang, a research fellow with the Institute of European Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that although no political issues will be discussed in the meeting, the UK has proved the significance of bilateral ties through this etiquette and meeting.

According to a Times newspaper report, Beijing had stipulated that the meeting was a precondition for the visit and threatened to call the trip off if it was not arranged.

Li also held talks with British Prime Minister David Cameron on Tuesday, during which the two sides signed trade deals worth over $28 billion.

The British Home Office is also working to facilitate visa applications for Chinese tourists and businessmen.

Theresa May, the Home secretary, said that a high priority 24-hour service will be launched in August, which would make the UK the only European country to offer such a service to Chinese citizens.

"Last year a pilot scheme which enabled tour operators to operate from a single application form in processing UK and Schengen visa applications proved highly successful. We will be extending it to all Chinese visitors starting this summer with independent travelers," said May.

A new joint British/Irish Visa Scheme was also unveiled, which will allow Chinese visitors with an Irish visa to travel to the UK without a separate visa in hand.

"The UK is trying to attract more Chinese investors and further open up its market, especially its education market, to China," Yang said.

Yang added that the streamlined visa application process was proof of an improving relationship between China and the UK, which has given rise to increasingly frequent personnel exchanges.

Liu Xiaoming, China's ambassador to the UK, previously said that visa restrictions, among some other reasons, left Britain at a disadvantage to its European rivals, reported the Financial Times.

About 290,000 visitor visas were issued to Chinese nationals in 2013. "There is direct economic value. But there is also enormous value in increasing cultural ties," May said.