President Xi Jinping on Tuesday called for deeper cooperation between “major technological powers” China and the UK as he held his first official call with new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham.
Xi congratulated Burnham on his appointment as the country’s leader, according to Chinese state news agency Xinhua, emphasising that the shared interests of China and the United Kingdom outweighed their differences in social systems.
“Both sides should respect and trust each other, transcend differences, seek common ground while reserving differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation,” Xi was quoted as saying.
“Both China and the UK are major technological powers with abundant resources in education, culture and sports. They should maintain an open and forward-looking approach and strengthen exchanges and cooperation in various fields.”
Xi also urged the UK to work with China as a fellow major economy and permanent member of the UN Security Council, in backing multilateralism and free trade, and pushing for an “equitable and orderly multipolar world”.
Burnham took office as prime minister on July 20, after succeeding Keir Starmer as leader of the Labour Party. Tuesday’s call took place at Burnham’s request, Xinhua said.
A read-out from Beijing released in the evening did not say if the wars in Iran and Ukraine figured in the talks.