President Xi Jinping's state visit to the United Kingdom, the first by a Chinese president for a decade, comes at a genuinely auspicious time. It comes as the UK and China stand on the threshold of a golden era in their relationship, when we become for the first time genuinely interdependent.

Huge work has gone into building a broad and deep dialogue over the past 10 years. Our connections are now far and wide. Crucially, our links now encompass our children, culture, classrooms and campuses. This is good for a richer appreciation of each other's past. But more important, China and the UK are now working together to invent the future.

When I wrote my book on the future of Sino-British relations two years ago, I called it Turning to Face the East. The argument is now taking hold. The UK's leaders are now turning East. President Xi's visit will help us speed up the pace.

I'm really delighted to welcome President Xi. Previously, our prime minister went to China and had a fantastic dialogue with the Chinese there, and now for President Xi to come here is fantastic. I think it's going to take UK-China relations forward to what we all describe as a golden era of UK China relations.

President Xi's visit is the clearest sign possible of the closer relationship between China and the UK. The economic and commercial potential of deepening ties provides a key focus for the visit. Financial and related professional services are important not only to both China and the UK, but the industry is also an enabler for the wider economy. China presents significant opportunities for the sectors represented by TheCityUK to assist in the addressing the challenges of one of the most important economies in the world. But it's equally clear that the UK welcomes Chinese engagement in the UK economy, whether that be investment, renminbi trading, bond issuance or listings on the London market. That's why TheCityUK has a program of working with China that draws on our member businesses' experience in areas that include the development of free trade zones, the Belt and Road Initiative and infrastructure.

I am confident that President Xi's visit will build on the excellent results of the visit by Chancellor George Osborne and other senior ministers to China last month.

China and the UK should use the visit to promote trade between our two countries and to increase British exports to China to bridge the imbalance in our trade. Britain should reiterate the warm welcome it extends to Chinese investment in the UK and - speaking as a Northerner myself - engage China and Chinese companies in building the Northern Powerhouse, which the prime minister and chancellor are backing. Both leaders should explore how China and the UK can work together and pool our respective strengths, especially in tapping opportunities in China's Belt and Road Initiative and through our common membership of the new Asia Infrastructure Development Bank.

The visit is much anticipated and will mark a new high point in UK-China relations, which are going from strength to strength. The visit is an opportunity to deepen UK-China commercial ties and to do more business in the UK, in China and in third markets. At CBBC we think there is great potential for continued growth in the commercial links.

Discussion will no doubt include China's Belt and Road Initiative, which will see new and exciting opportunities emerge with China and beyond, with revitalized trade and investment links through Central Asia and on to Europe. This is something we are following closely. Made in China 2025, another important policy, aims to move Chinese manufacturing up the value chain. This will open up further new areas of collaboration.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/16/2015 page12)