On July 30, Premier Li Keqiang met with visiting British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt, who was in Beijing to attend the 9th China-UK Strategic Dialogue.

Premier Li said China and Britain have the responsibility to maintain international order based on the principles of the UN Charter, and the multilateral trade system with WTO as the core.

China and Britain should jointly safeguard multilateralism and an open world economy, and inject a stable and constructive force into the world, he said.

The Premier said China is willing to promote bilateral ties and cooperation in various fields, and cultivate new growth drivers of cooperation by taking the opportunity of the Shanghai-London Stock Connect program, which will be launched this year.

China will create an even better business environment for foreign enterprises in China, he said. He also hoped that Britain will provide institutional guarantees for Chinese enterprises to invest in Britain.

Hunt said that China-UK ties are undergoing a “Golden Era” with lots of opportunities for bilateral cooperation.

Britain is looking forward to the annual meeting between the prime ministers of the two countries, and is willing to intensify political trust and strategy alignment with China, he said.

As the current international landscape is at a critical point, Britain and China should strengthen collaboration, stick to multilateralism and free trade, and maintain the international order based on rules, he added.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of common concerns.

State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi also attended the meeting.