China-UK dialogue a step toward building a brighter era

THE NINTH CHINA-UK STRATEGIC DIALOGUE HELD ON MONDAY speaks volumes about the quality of bilateral relations, and China and the United Kingdom should cherish the "golden era" of bilateral relations, says a commentary by China Global Television Network:

This dialogue was special for many reasons. It was British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt's first visit to China in his new capacity.

In the last couple of months, British politics has experienced more drama with two Cabinet-level resignations. Also, the dialogue was held in the context of increasing China-US trade conflicts which have made European countries, Britain included, uneasy and nervous.

This shows the challenges facing the strategic cooperation between China and the UK are tough, and they have to make greater efforts to live up to the "golden era" standards. The tensions that China-US trade conflicts have raised and the US-EU row show the international environment has worsened since 2015, when China and the UK entered the "golden era", and further deteriorated in 2018.

The Brexit drama is still unfolding in the UK. The negotiation between the European Union and the UK is far from being settled, as there are major differences in the two sides' Northern Ireland backstop plans and the contour of future relationships is still blurred even though there are less than three months to go for the deadline.

However, as the success of the Ninth China-UK Strategic Dialogue shows, the two sides have the vision, wisdom and ability to face up to the challenges and to build an even better era for bilateral relations, as the recognition of importance and mutual benefit of the "golden era" is deeply rooted not only in the minds of policymakers but also in two societies.

The depth and width of China-UK pragmatic cooperation provides a solid foundation, from trade and investment to financial and service cooperation, and from cultural exchanges to innovation cooperation.

The good experience of working with the Chinese has prompted Britain to change its attitude toward China, which is no longer swayed by suspicious voices in the West.

The China-UK dialogue was vital as the two sides reaffirmed their agreement in upholding multilateralism and the international order.