18 January 2008
Arriving in China for his first trip as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown has hailed a new level of partnership with China which he said could create tens of thousands of jobs for British workers.
Mr Brown said he wanted two-way trade with China’s booming economy to increase by 50 percent in the next two years, and he wanted to see 100 new Chinese companies investing in the UK by 2010.
Speaking at a joint press conference in Beijing after talks with Premier Wen Jiabao in the Great Hall of the People, Mr Brown said:
"I believe that tens of thousands of jobs in Britain for British workers can be created by the closer cooperation between our two countries.
"It’s true we are able to sell to China not just financial and business services and environmental technologies, but also a whole range of British brands that are now becoming very popular among the rising number of Chinese consumers.
"Amidst the global economic difficulties and turbulence, the importance of China and our growing relationship is absolutely crucial to the success of the global economy as a whole. I’m delighted we are able to move our relationship forward to a new level of cooperation."
Premier Wen added:
"We will expand immediately trade and investment with a target of raising our two-way trade to 60 billion US dollars by 2010."
Mr Brown is leading a large delegation, including Business Secretary John Hutton and CBI chief Richard Lambert, for discussions on trade and environment issues. In a later address to a UK-Chinese Business Summit, the PM said that opportunities for partnership between the two countires were "boundless".
The Prime Minister will also meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao before heading to India for the second leg of his overseas tour. During his stay in China, Mr Brown is expected to visit Shanghai and a number of developments relating to the Olympics and to the environment.
Image copyright: Reuters
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