William begins first UK royal visit to China in 30 years

Britain's Prince William arrives in Beijing, capital of China, for his first-ever visit to China, March 1, 2015. He will have a four-day tour in China. (Photo/Xinhua)

Britain's Prince William kicked off his four-day trip to China on Sunday, which experts have called the highest-level royal visit in almost 30 years and which offers great potential to enhance Sino-British ties.

The Duke of Cambridge will visit Beijing, Shanghai and Yunnan Province at the invitation of the Chinese People's Institute of Foreign Affairs. Queen Elizabeth II visited China in 1986.

Prince William is serving as a representative of the UK and the Queen, Ma Zhengang, China's ex-ambassador to the UK, told the Global Times.

His trip shows the UK is taking more initiatives to promote bilateral ties after several incidents such as Prime Cameron's meeting with the Dalai Lama in 2012 and some British politicians' support for the Occupy protests in Hong Kong last year, Wang Yiwei, the director of the Institute of International Affairs at the Renmin University of China, told the Global Times.

Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in April 2013 that Sino-British relations were hurt by Cameron's meeting with the Dalai Lama in May 2012 and stressed China's firm stance on its core interests, but that China values the bilateral relationship.

China also attaches great importance to Prince William's visit since both countries committed to push forward bilateral cooperation in growth, reform and innovation last year, Ma said.

Because Prince William is considered the next King of Britain, China will give him a high-level reception, said Feng Zhongping, deputy director of the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations.

The Duke will open the GREAT Festival of Creativity at Shanghai's Long Museum on Monday. "The Duke will also attend events in Beijing and elsewhere to promote UK-China relations, people to people links, and to support his work to combat the illegal wildlife trade and support wildlife conservation," the Buckingham Palace said in a statement in November.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Hong Lei said last week that China hopes Prince William's visit will help advance Britain's understanding of China and boost China-Britain ties.