China-Britain economic, trade cooperation documents to deepen bilateral ties: commerce ministry

BEIJING, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The latest economic and trade cooperation documents signed between China and Britain aimed to further deepen bilateral economic and trade relations through coordinated efforts in goods trade, services trade, and the development of economic and trade mechanisms, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Friday.

During British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's ongoing visit to China, the two countries signed four economic and trade cooperation documents, according to a ministry spokesperson.

With the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on export cooperation with China, Britain has become the first country to sign such a memorandum with China since China launched an initiative to enable global trade partners to share its vast market, said the spokesperson.

The two sides will establish a cooperation mechanism for exporting to China, jointly explore the export potential of high-quality British goods and services to China, strengthen information exchange, carry out promotional activities, and improve trade facilitation so as to jointly promote the sound development of China-Britain trade, the spokesperson added.

Through the signing of two other documents, namely, the MoU on launching a joint feasibility study on a China-Britain services trade agreement and the MoU on establishing a bilateral partnership on services, the two sides will fully leverage the complementarity and respective advantages in the service sector to deepen cooperation in creative industries, professional services, financial services, as well as in medical and health care.

The MoU on strengthening the work of the China-UK Joint Economic and Trade Commission aims to consolidate the commission's role as a platform for bilateral economic and trade policy dialogue and trade and investment promotion, according to the spokesperson.

It will promote interaction between the commission and the UK-China Business Council, strengthen dialogue between governments and businesses from the two countries, facilitate the resolution of issues and demands raised by enterprises from both sides, and contribute to deepening China-Britain economic and trade relations, according to the ministry. ■