Mutual understanding vital for ties

China and the United Kingdom should have a right understanding of each other, China's Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang said on Tuesday, as the two countries each enter a new development stage and their relationship faces a new situation.

Zheng expressed his hope during a seminar in London on the 50th anniversary of the establishment of China-UK ambassadorial diplomatic relations. Fifty years ago, the two countries signed the Joint Communique on an Exchange of Ambassadors on March 13, 1972, turning a new page for the bilateral relationship.

"Over the past 50 years, China and the UK have gained increasingly wider and deeper knowledge of each other," the ambassador said. "That being said, we must admit that there is still much misunderstanding here in this country about, among others, China's political system."

He said the right of every country to choose the development path that suits its national conditions should be fully respected.

According to a 10-year survey on China by Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Chinese people's rate of satisfaction with their government's performance has been over 90 percent for many years in a row.

The result is echoed by a survey done by Edelman, a global public relations consultancy, which shows 91 percent of Chinese citizens interviewed said they trust their government.

Citing these polls, Zheng said China believes that the people of a country are the sole judges of whether the country's system is good.

Another example, he said, is the perception of China's COVID-19 response policy. China's dynamic zero-COVID policy in combating the pandemic has long been questioned by some British media, saying it is too strict and not science-based.

But these measures have been proven effective by China's infection and fatality rates, the lowest in the world, at 9.4 out of 100,000 and 0.4 out of 100,000, respectively.

"Different countries have different national conditions and face different COVID situations. We support different countries in adopting different policies based on their national conditions," he said.

On the perception of China's foreign policy, he quoted some rhetoric in the United Kingdom that positions China as a "systemic competitor" or even a threat. "But the fact is that China always upholds peace, good neighborliness and harmony. We adhere to peaceful development," he said.

He added that China's development will not pose any threat to any country.

Historic progress

Over the past 50 years, the relationship between China and the UK has gone through ups and downs and overcome difficulties and obstacles to achieve "historic progress", said Zheng, who described the bilateral relationship as "pioneering, extensive and win-win".

He recalled that the UK was the first major Western country to recognize New China, the first to carry out trade with New China, and more recently, the first to apply to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

In May 2021, China replaced Germany as the UK's biggest single import market, another indicator of deepening China-UK ties.

Over the past decade, British exports to China have increased by 126 percent, a growth rate that far exceeds those Britain has achieved with other trading partners. The Tou Ying Tracker Report of 2021, an independent investigation conducted by Grant Thornton UK in collaboration with the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK and China Daily UK, shows that Chinese companies in the UK employed over 60,000 people in the country, the ambassador said.

Chinese companies have also played a key role in addressing the COVID-19 crisis in the United Kingdom. Between September 2020 and June 2021, more than three-quarters of UK government contracts for rapid antigen tests involved Chinese suppliers or manufacturers, according to UK nonprofit The Citizens.

The ambassador also cited exchanges involving students and researchers. More than 220,000 Chinese students are studying in the UK, and research institutions predict this number will grow 70 percent by 2030.

"Facts fully prove that cooperation between China and the UK have not only brought benefits to the peoples of our two countries but also played a positive role in promoting world peace, stability and prosperity," he said.

Also participating in the seminar were Wu Hongbo, the special representative of the Chinese government on European affairs; Jiang Jiang, vice-president of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries; Dan Chugg, director for North East Asia and China at the Foreign, Commonwealth&Development Office; and Vince Cable, former UK secretary of state for business, innovation and skills.