On June 26, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming attended the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK) 2019 Annual Conference and delivered a keynote speech. Mark Slaughter, Director General for Investment at the Department for International Trade and Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chairman-designate of China-Britain Business Council (CBBC) addressed the conference respectively. Stephen Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group Club, Sir Martin Davidson, Chairman of the Great Britain China Centre, and Lord Bates, former Minister of State at the Department for International Development, and nearly 400 representatives of the Chinese and British business communities were at the event.

“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. It is also the 65th anniversary of the establishment of China-UK diplomatic relationship at the level of chargé d'affaires. In the past 70 years, China has achieved remarkable success in its development. It has now entered a new historical stage. China and the rest of the world have become so interdependent that they are actually part of one and the same community with a shared future. In the past 65 years, China-UK relations have gone through an extraordinary journey. Today, this relationship is heading towards a more practical, inclusive and win-win future”, Ambassador Liu said in his speech.

The Ambassador expressed his appreciation to the CCCUK for its many years’ services to Chinese companies in the UK to promote China-UK trade and economic cooperation and its vigorous efforts in providing a platform for mutually-beneficial trade and economic cooperation between China and the UK, for policy communication between Chinese companies in the UK and the British government departments, and for services to Chinese companies in the UK. He hoped that the CCCUK would uphold the principles of “Openness, Cooperation and Mutual Benefit” to be an advocate of China's reform and opening up, a pioneer for the Belt and Road Initiative, a facilitator of mutual learning between civilisations and contribute more “golden fruits” to the China-UK “Golden Era”.

Slaughter noted that the UK-China economic and trade cooperation has been developing steadily in recent years. This June, Vice Premier Hu Chunhua hosted the tenth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue in the UK, achieving a number of fruitful results. The UK market is open and free. The British government welcomes foreign investment and is ready to provide good services. As China further deepens reforms and expands opening up, the UK is willing to further strengthen trade and investment cooperation with China, attract more Chinese companies to invest in the UK, and promote the in-depth development of bilateral economic and trade relations between the two countries.

Sir Sherard said that this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China. In the past 70 years, China has achieved amazing development with great improvement in its people’s living standards, creating a miracle in the course of human development. He hoped that China would continue to maintain this momentum in the future. Over the years, with the joint efforts of the enterprises of the two countries, the UK-China economic and trade cooperation has achieved mutual benefit and rapid development. The CBBC is willing to continue to carry forward the breaking ice spirit, engage the Chinese enterprises to help them expand their business scope in the UK, and enrich the content of cooperation, and promote the steady development of UK-China economic and trade relations.

Chairman Fang summed up the work of the CCCUK in the past year. He said that the CCCUK has developed rapidly since its establishment in 2001, having become an important force in promoting China-UK “Golden Era”. In 2019, the CCCUK has successfully fulfilled its roles as a promoter of China-UK economic and trade cooperation, the spokesperson of Chinese-funded enterprises and the sponsor of China-UK charitable cooperation. In the future, the China Chamber of Commerce would continue to promote BRI cooperation, strengthen its self-construction, provide more quality services to member companies, and earnestly fulfil its social responsibilities through activities, such as the China-UK Charity Initiative, to contribute to the development of China-UK relations.

Hailing China’s great achievements in reform and opening up at the warm and festive annual conference, the guests spoke highly of China’s important measures to further expand opening up and expressed their confidence in the prospects of China and China-UK relations.

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The China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK), previously known as the China Enterprises Association in Britain established in July 2001, was officially renamed in September 2015. At present, it has over 200 corporate members in total, covering sectors such as finance, transportation, trading, services, pharmaceuticals, petroleum, communications and manufacturing. It is an important institution for developing China-UK economic and trade cooperation and promoting China-UK friendship.