Chinese President Xi Jinping delivers a speech at the UK-China Business Summit in London Oct 21, 2015.(Photo/Xinhua)
During the same speech, Xi also outlined his vision for China's One Belt One Road initiative, and explained how this project will create better infrastructure and connectivity globally, and in turn trigger further economic growth.
He also identified four suggested areas of further strengthening of the UK- China relationship, which are to deepen mutual trust between the countries, to further align UK China development strategies and industrial policy, to move forward cooperation in big projects such as nuclear, high speed rail, infrastructure and renminbi internationalization, and also to enhance cooperation in emerging industries.
Examples of emerging industries he mentioned include new energy, smart city, biomedicine, innovation, science and technology, and ecommerce.
Xi's speech attracted a positive reaction from British business leaders. Asher Bennett, founder and CEO of Tevva Motors, said that it is reassuring to see Xi's positive view on the Chinese economic growth.
"China is an important economy, and I think Xi's view about China's continued economic growth is completely believable as it matches my experience of China when I go there for business," said Bennett.
Tayyeb Shah, Director of International Strategy at King's College London, said that it is comforting to hear Xi saying that the long-term growth of China will be strong.
"I think it's a very inspiring speech. President Xi is a very charismatic individual, and the relationship he paints of UK-China cooperation is very positive," said Shah.
The UK-China Business Summit featured discussions on UK China cooperation especially in sectors including infrastructure, automotive and advanced manufacturing and genomics.
It also included a conversation with Jack Ma, founder and executive chairman of Alibaba. On Monday the UK Prime Minister David Cameron appointed Ma to advise him on business strategy.
