President Xi speech at the Guildhall 2015.10

President Xi Jinping

Mr Prime Minister, friends from the media, good afternoon. First of all, I wish to convey a cordial greetings and best wishes from the Chinese people towards the British people. The Royal Family and government of the UK have accorded to me thoughtful arrangement and warm hospitality. I wish to express my heartfelt gratitude.

China and the UK are both major countries with significant influence. This year is the beginning of the second decade of China–UK comprehensive strategic partnership and this relationship has come to a new starting point. I’m making this state visit to the UK to build on past achievements, elevate our political mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation in all fields, and take China–UK ties to a new level.

Yesterday, I had a full programme of a state visit accorded to me by Her Majesty the Queen, and I was deeply impressed by the pageantry and warmth throughout. And just now, I had a productive meeting with Prime Minister Cameron. We reached important consensus on many issues, and agreed and announced here that we will build a global comprehensive strategic partnership between our countries in the 21st century and jointly open up a golden era of an enduring inclusive win/win China–UK relationship, and jointly create an even brighter future for our relations.

During the visit we achieved a string of outcomes. Prime Minister and I witnessed the signing of some intergovernmental and business cooperation documents, which include the Hinkley Point nuclear power station with the involvement of Chinese company. And this is a flagship project of cooperation between our countries in recent years, and it will lead to more practical cooperation of this kind between the 2 sides.
Our financial cooperation continues to lead the way. China will issue in London RMB sovereign bond outside China for the first time and the People’s Bank of China will issue in the UK RMB 5 billion central bank bills. And the 2 central banks will extend bilateral currency swap from RMB 200 billion to RMB 350 billion. And the first RMB green bond will be issued in the UK.

There is a saying in English, ‘One today is worth two tomorrows’. And the Chinese people often say, ‘Seize the day, seize the hour’. Let’s seize the opportunity and forge ahead together to promote further progress in China–UK relations and bring more benefits to people of our countries and the rest of the world. Thank you.

https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/joint-press-conference-david-cameron-and-president-xi-jinping