On the afternoon of August 23, President Xi Jinping took a phone call from U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

President Xi congratulated Keir Starmer on assuming the office of the Prime Minister. President Xi noted that faced with transformation and volatility in the international landscape, China and the U.K., as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as well as the world’s leading economies, need to view their relations from a long-term and strategic perspective, continue to see each other as partners, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and build a stable and mutually beneficial relationship that contributes to the well-being of the two countries and the world. China is committed to building a great country and achieving national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization, and follows a path of peaceful development. It is hoped that the U.K. will view China in an objective and rational manner. The Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee laid out a strategic plan for further deepening reform comprehensively to advance Chinese modernization. China is moving faster to develop new quality productive forces and advance new industrialization. These efforts will create new opportunities for the U.K. and countries around the world. China is prepared to have equal-footed and mutually respectful dialogue with the U.K. to enhance mutual understanding and trust, build greater synergy between the development strategies of the two countries, expand cooperation in such areas as financial services, green economy and artificial intelligence, and deepen people-to-people ties, thus making mutual benefit the defining feature of China-U.K. relations.

Prime Minister Starmer congratulated Chinese athletes on their excellent achievements at the Paris Olympics. He said that developing closer U.K.-China cooperation is in the long-term interests of both sides. Enhanced trade, financial, educational, energy and health cooperation supports the goals of both countries and helps address climate change and other global challenges. The U.K. hopes to strengthen engagement and dialogue with China at all levels and in various areas, strive for positive results in practical cooperation and institutionalized exchanges between the two countries, and develop long-term, stable and strategic U.K.-China relations in the spirit of mutual respect. The U.K. will have regular dialogue with China on key international and regional issues to contribute to world security and stability. Prime Minister Starmer reassured China there is no change to the U.K.’s long-term one-China policy.

President Xi pointed out that China places high importance on the U.K.’s desire for more engagement and dialogue, and will maintain exchanges with the U.K. at all levels, promote steady and sustained progress in China-U.K. relations, and work together to advance global peace and development.