Xi Jinping Speaks with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on the Phone

On October 29, 2021, President Xi Jinping had a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Xi Jinping pointed out that, with the world economy experiencing an arduous recovery due to the incessant waves of COVID-19 outbreaks, China-Britain relations are facing both opportunities and challenges. China and Britain, both as permanent members of the United Nations (UN) Security Council and major economies in the world, should maintain sound communication, strengthen cooperation, and make contributions so that the world will triumph over the pandemic at an early date, improve global governance and achieve development and prosperity. Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of ambassadorial-level diplomatic ties between China and Britain, an opportunity the two sides should seize to cope with challenges and work together to achieve steady and sustained progress of bilateral relations on the right track.

Xi Jinping stressed that for China-Britain relations to fare well, mutual trust is the foundation, understanding is the precondition, and proper management of differences is the key. China views its relations with Britain from a strategic and long-term perspective, and hopes that Britain will respect facts and perceive China's development path and system in a comprehensive and objective way. The fact that bilateral trade and investment have grown despite the impact of the pandemic has once again proved that China-Britain cooperation is mutually beneficial. China welcomes Britain to export more high-quality products to China and expand cooperation in such fields as health care, green development, digital economy, finance and innovation. While hoping that the British side could provide Chinese enterprises with fair, equitable and non-discriminatory treatment, the Chinese side will also facilitate British enterprises' cooperation in China. The two sides should take the Beijing Olympic Winter Games as an opportunity to deepen sports cooperation and people-to-people exchanges. China and Britain should practice true multilateralism. China welcomes Britain to join the Global Development Initiative and inject momentum into the implementation of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Xi Jinping underlined, China has announced the goal to peak carbon dioxide emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, and proposed a series of concrete measures to scale up its Intended Nationally Determined Contributions. This means that a wide range of profound economic and social reforms need to be accomplished step by step and with hard efforts. China is determined to accelerate green and low-carbon development, and we always honor our pledges. China supports Britain in playing its role as Presidency of the Twenty-sixth Session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, upholding the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities, and encouraging all parties to translate their lofty ambitions into concrete actions.

Johnson said, I highly value Britain's relations with China, and agree with President Xi Jinping's views on the development of Britain-China relations. The two countries have the consensus and common interests on many important issues, such as global public health, world economic recovery, the Iranian nuclear issue and anti-terrorism. Both sides need to strengthen candid dialogue and friendly cooperation. Britain is willing to deepen cooperation with China in such areas as economy, trade, education and clean energy, welcomes Chinese enterprises to invest and cooperate in Britain, and is willing to provide them with an open business environment. Britain is also willing to make concerted efforts with China for greater development of bilateral relations. Britain congratulates China on successfully hosting the first phase of the 15th Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Kunming, and is looking forward to maintaining close communication with China on addressing global climate change and biodiversity conservation, and striving to promote balanced and sustainable development of the world.