State of the two nations

Students talk of their hopes for a presidential visit after a gap of 10 years

Wang Ziming, student in human resource management, University of Sheffield

Ithink the UK is one of the most developed countries, one that has pushed human progress technologically and politically, for example, the Industrial Revolution and constitutional monarchy. China, on the other hand, is the biggest developing socialist country, with the world's second-largest GDP. With the development of the Sino-UK relationship, including trade, there is no doubt that both countries can be immensely beneficial to one another.

I believe the relationship between China and the UK will grow rapidly in coming years. As most people know, China has grown at an incredible speed in the past 35 years. No developed country can afford to ignore China's great market and the other opportunities the country presents. With the tide of globalization, the connection between China and the UK can only become stronger.

Chen Yang, postgraduate in new media and sociology, University of Leicester

I think both the UK and China are very important countries, so their relationship is first of all good for the environment and second good for trade, benefiting both economies. China can learn a lot from the UK, such as with environmental protection and high technology.

I believe the relationship will continue to develop at the current pace, because both countries need to work together on environmental pollution and with problems of migration. More importantly, as Europe's economy is in low gear at the moment, its countries need the boost from developing countries, especially China.

Grace Housdon, law student, University of Surrey

Having a relationship with China is clearly very beneficial to the UK. It is unlikely it would have headed out of its recession and into positive growth without it. The relationship enhances stability for both markets and helps to allocate resources in a more efficient manner, the basis for sustainable economic growth, on both a domestic and global scale. During President Xi's visit I expect some interesting public engagements during which the China-UK relationship is discussed at length.

He Songdong, postgraduate in banking and finance, University of Sussex

Astable relationship between China and the UK ensures the increasing development of trade.

It is obvious that the Sino-UK relationship will get better and better. On one hand, the UK hopes to increase trade and investment from China due to high-speed economic development; on the other hand, even though China is developing rapidly economically, it still lacks high-end financial and technical personnel, which means it can learn a lot from the UK. I believe President Xi's visit points to a practical and positive strategic relationship.

Mao Zhouchen, first-year PhD researcher, University of Kent

Collaboration between China and the UK is constantly widening and deepening. I think a healthy Sino-UK relationship is not only significant to each country's national interest, but will also benefit their regions and even the world.

Of course, China and the UK differ in history, culture, social systems and values. However, I believe these differences offer vast opportunities for both countries to prosper from today's strong ties by encouraging greater mutual understanding, economic cooperation and collaboration in areas such as security, sustainable development and environmental protection.

President Xi's visit will push the China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership to a new level, and I expect commercial and economic developments to be the top priority. Both sides seek to deepen China-UK commercial ties, in which there is great potential for continued growth. For Chinese businesses this visit is an opportunity to create new partnerships.

Sapana Fisher, student of Chinese and development, School of Oriental Studies, University of London

To be honest, I didn't know that much about China before starting university. I'm studying the language, and I mainly studied languages at A levels so I've had to do a bit of catching up in history and politics. Now I tend to hear about China through the news or from my fellow students. I think Sino-UK relationship is important, and perhaps it is more important to the UK than it is to China, but I think we can offer something, especially culturally. Also, I believe the China-UK relationship will continue to grow at the current pace, as more and more Chinese people come to the UK for tourism and education, and more and more people in the UK study Chinese. Hopefully this will improve mutual understanding and we can learn from each other. Since I'm learning Chinese, I hope the relationship continues to be a friendly and prosperous one - and that perhaps I can play a part in that.

Wang Zedi, business student, University of Warwick

Living and studying in the UK is quite close to what I expected before I came to the UK: the living standards are good and the studies are of good quality, but too many Chinese students in the same class kind of makes studying abroad less exciting.

I think not only the Sino-UK relationship is important, but good relationships between China and every country is essential to China. Trade between the UK and China is mutually beneficial, of course, but obviously it is more significant for the UK than China because the Chinese economy is much bigger.

The Sino-UK relationship still has vast room for improvement, and not only in economics and commerce. The two sides also need to build more trust in other fields, such as military and international affairs.

Lara Wolfe, who will pursue Middle Eastern and Asian studies at Downing College, Cambridge, next year

I fell in love with the friendliness of Chinese people and their rich history and culture after spending three years in Shanghai and Hong Kong in my teens.

2015 is meant to be a golden year for Sino-UK relations. However, all it has done is put in place plans that will start to blossom next year. Perhaps 2016 will be the platinum year. Both countries bring different skills to the table: the UK its service capabilities, especially tourism and higher education, and China its manufacturing sector and 1.3 billion people hungry for foreign goods and services.

With the push by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, for closer Sino-UK relations, I expect to see a formal announcement regarding China's investment in the UK.

Katrina Barnes, postgraduate student in translating and interpreting, University of Westminster

I think that any progressive cultural relationship between countries is important, as mutual understanding can never be a bad thing. On an economic level, the UK needs the Chinese economy's support more than the other way around, as the demise of manufacturing industries in the UK has made us much more reliant upon foreign trade. Also, I have noticed that there seems to be ever-increasing interest from Chinese students in our higher-education system, which remains one of our top exports. From what I have read, President Xi sounds like a personable character, and I have no doubt he will be warmly received. This will be the first state visit from a Chinese president in 10 years, so the press will no doubt be very excited about his arrival.

F. Thomas, BA in history and politics, Exeter University

I have never looked particularly closely at Chinese affairs, and most of the information about its place in the world and its internal politics comes from British media, which has undoubtedly given me a very Anglo-centric view. China is certainly a country in which I have become increasingly interested, as I believe it will certainly play a large role in world affairs in the coming decades. Though the relationship between the UK and China has been understated in the past, Western nations, particularly Britain, are attempting to build a stronger relationship with China for numerous reasons. Not only is China an important and growing country, it also holds the balance of power in the East, which is something Western nations will see as an opportunity for increased power. As economic ties between the two countries grow, I expect a pleasant state visit that showcases British culture and in which both sides look to establish a deeper relationship.

(China Daily European Weekly 10/16/2015 page13)