Brexit, with a "liberating effect" on Britain, could create an opportunity for stronger China-Britain ties and potentially a new partnership, said a leading British expert on Chinese affairs.
British Prime Minister Theresa May's upcoming official visit to China, the first since she took office in 2016, is set to chart a new course for bilateral relations, said Kerry Brown, a professor of Chinese studies and director of the Lau China Institute at King's College London.
NEW PARTNERSHIP
"This is paying attention to a partner which is very very important, not specifically about Brexit but obviously looking to create a future in which the UK and China can work together," Brown told Xinhua in an interview.
The professor said Britain needs to look beyond traditional partnerships with the European Union and the United States and start to look at China as a new partner.
"We will have to think about China in a new way, and think about China as a new kind of partner where we are trying to deliver some of the things we currently get from the EU and America, from a partner that hasn't traditionally been in that sort of role," he said.
May's three-day visit starting on Wednesday will be the first by a British prime minister to China since Chinese President Xi Jinping's tour to Britain in 2015 when both sides sealed the "Golden Era" for bilateral ties.
"So we're clearly moving into a new kind of era ... And the relationship between the UK and China is going to have different sorts of opportunities," said Brown.
The China expert believes both sides can enhance cooperation in trade and finance, infrastructure, service, and culture and people-to-people exchanges if Brexit goes smoothly.
"The UK could become an even bigger investment destination for China, a bigger finance partner, and a bigger intellectual partner in terms of the way that universities work together," he said.
Britain is China's second largest trading partner within the European Union (EU) and China is Britain's second largest non-EU trading partner.Trade volume between the two countries hit 79 billion U.S. dollars in 2017, up nearly 6.2 percent from the previous year, with Britain's exports to China increasing 19.4 percent.
Meanwhile, more than 500 Chinese enterprises have set up their offices in Britain, with a total of 21.8 billion dollars invested in projects ranging from traditional areas like trade, finance and telecommunications to such emerging areas as new energy, high-end manufacturing, infrastructure and research centers.
INCREASED COOPERATION
Talking about the Belt and Road Initiative, the professor said the initiative offers opportunities in logistics and stimulates supply in both ends, referring to the direct express freight train between London and eastern China's Yiwu city known as China's "world supermarket".
The first China-bound freight train carrying British products left DP World London Gateway terminal on April 10, 2017 and arrived at Yiwu after a 19-day journey.
The professor said he expects more tangible projects from the initiative and it remains to be seen what possibilities the initiative will bring to both countries.
"I think the Belt and Road Initiatives is just a way to think about China in the new way," he said.
As a major outcome reached at the recent China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), China and Britain proposed a bilateral investment fund with the first round of 1 billion dollars to support the initiative.
In a bid to support British businesses' involvement in the initiative, the British government recently pledged up to 25 billion British pounds (33.3 billion dollars) worth of financial support for companies participating in the Belt and Road projects in Asia.
However, as Brexit uncertainties remain a grave concern, Britain should better position itself and articulate its policies so as to translate huge potential into reality, said the professor.
