Media rekindle keenness in UK's China business

President Xi Jinping's visit to United Kingdom next month may be less problematic than his current trip to the United States, if media reports in both countries are anything to go by.

True, there's no outright hostility in the extensive coverage in, for example, The New York Times. But London's media are full of optimistic news about British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne's carefully managed weeklong visit to China, packed with a huge variety of initiatives and deals - from nuclear power to a major financial boost to British schools to promote the teaching of Mandarin.

Over the weekend The Times and The Daily Telegraph, two of Britain's heavyweight newspapers, carried in-depth reports on the country's so-called "soft power" cultural approach. We don't send gunboats anymore; we rely on William Shakespeare in Mandarin and a huge collection of priceless objects from the British Museum. The aim behind the "new invasion" is trade with a capital T.