Chinese vice premier's visit a success: UK finance chief
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Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang's ongoing visit to Britain is already a success and will further promote cooperation between the two countries, the top British finance official said Monday.
"Vice Premier Li's visit is already a success. Mr. Li has signed a set of deals with us, like in car production and oil exploration," Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.
The Chinese vice premier is currently on a four-day visit to Britain, with his first stop in Edinburgh, Scotland on Sunday and arrival in London on Monday.
"China and Britain have got a lot in common. We both have interest in global recovery, increasing world trade and being partners for growth, so the Chinese people and the British people can both benefit from global economy," Osborne said.
Osborne called the two economies "quite complementary," as Britain is the world's second largest services exporters, and China, the largest exporter of manufactured goods.
"There are lots of areas we can enhance cooperation," he said. "We can work together to bring the benefits of a great global trade to our two countries."
Praising the successful operation of some British companies in financial and business services in China, the chancellor said he expected to see more Chinese companies opening and expanding their businesses in Britain.
"I'm also trying to ensure that the Chinese see the UK as a good place to invest themselves," he said.
Moreover, Osborne commented on China's next five-year plan, which, he said, aims at further development, not just in the exporting industries but in some domestic sectors such as consumption.
"It's good to see initiatives coming from the Chinese people themselves, rather than any other one in the world telling China how to develop," Osborne said. "China has proved it's a real success story."
He said he was always impressed by the growth he saw during his many visits to China in the past 20 years.
"There were hardly any buildings there when I first got there, but now it's full of skyscrapers," he said, taking the notable development of the Pudong district in Shanghai as an example.
Osborne first went to China as a student, and has visited both the country's coastal cities and its western part.
"It's an incredibly impressive story in China," he said, adding that he was looking forward to his third trip to China as Britain's finance chief.
Osborne has been to China twice in the last seven months after becoming Britain's Chancellor of the Exchequer.
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