Du Qinglin (L), vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, shakes hands with Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Culture, Tourism and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop, in Edinburgh, Britain, Sept. 23, 2016. Du is on a visit to Britain from Sept. 20 to 23. (Xinhua/Guo Chunju)
A senior Chinese official has urged his country and Britain to further deepen their mutual political trust and boost exchanges in various areas.
Du Qinglin, vice chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, China's top political advisory body, made the remarks while meeting with British political leaders during his four-day visit to Britain.
He said Sino-British relations had been generally stable and healthy in recent years.
China stands ready to work with Britain to deepen their political mutual trust, communication, and exchanges in various areas to advance the development of bilateral relations in a better and more stable manner, Du said.
The Chinese official also said the Communist Party of China is willing to further strengthen its friendly exchanges with major British political parties in parliament to inject fresh impetus into bilateral relations.
During his stay in Britain, Du met with officials including British Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt and Leader of the House of Lords Natalie Evans.
The British officials said they attach great importance to Britain-China relations and hoped to have closer high-level exchanges and promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.
They also said the two sides should enhance their pragmatic cooperation in various areas and promote coordination and communication in global affairs.
Du also attended the ninth China-UK Leadership Forum which he hailed as an important platform where parties and statesmen of the two countries could have in-depth communication and learn from each other.
The forum meets annually and alternates between the two countries. It aims to discuss, debate and establish positions on key issues both on a bilateral and international basis, and build lasting relationships between statesmen in both countries.
Chinese and British leaders have recently reaffirmed that Sino-British relations were in a "golden era."
