On February 19, Consul General Li Nan published a signed article titled “Starmer’s visit marked a reset in the course of China-UK relations” in the Northern Ireland mainstream media the Irish News. The full text is as follows:

In the last three days of January, Keir Starmer paid an official visit to China, the first visit by a UK prime minister in eight years, which marks “the resetting” of China-UK relationship, as Mr Starmer said. This visit was long overdue.

During the visit, President Xi Jinping met with Prime Minister Starmer, and both leaders agreed China and the UK should develop a long-term and consistent comprehensive strategic partnership. President Xi Jinping emphasized that China and the UK need to see history from a broader perspective, rise above differences, respect each other, and turn the vast potential of China-UK cooperation into tangible progress.

Mr Starmer said his huge delegation of more than 60 British business leaders demonstrates the breadth of UK-China cooperation and the UK’s commitment to deepening and expanding ties with China.

This visit has brought about fruitful outcomes. The two sides signed more than 20 cooperation documents in trade and economic exchange, agriculture and food, culture, and market regulation, £2.2 billion in export deals, around £2.3 billion in market access wins and hundreds of millions of investments are secured. In addition, China has agreed to cut tariffs on imported UK whiskey products from 10% to 5%, and will give the green light to visa-free access for UK travellers.

Enhancing political mutual trust is the foundation for the steady and sustained development of China-UK relations. It is a normal fact that China and the UK do not see eye to eye on every issue. As Chinese Ambassador H.E. Zheng Zeguang pointed out, some of the differences may arise from our different political systems and historical and cultural backgrounds, others from divergent practical interests, while many more from a lack of engagement and mutual understanding, which can make otherwise normal issues more complicated, as the case of the new Chinese Embassy compound issue has indicated.

It is natural for nations to have differing perspectives on certain issues, while this should never prevent them from carrying out normal exchanges and candid dialogues. China has always been advocating open and sincere exchanges, managing differences in a rational and pragmatic manner, and viewing bilateral relations from a long-term and strategic perspective.

The world is experiencing profound transformation and growing turbulence, and global economic growth remains sluggish. China, as the world’s second-largest economy, has shown strong resilience and vibrant dynamism.

Currently, bilateral trade exceeds £100 billion, two-way investment stock tops £50 billion. China is the UK’s third-largest trading partner, and British exports to China support 370,000 jobs domestically. The two economies are highly complementary and share extensive common interests. We should expand the “new increment” of bilateral trade, and create a “new engine” for innovative development, taking the lead in and empowering each other in such fields as AI, clean energy, biomedicine and high-end manufacturing, so as to bring more business opportunities to enterprises of both countries and deliver tangible benefits to the two peoples.

China’s tariff cut on UK whiskey will result in £250 million of extra income in the next five years, benefiting Northern Ireland distilleries. China’s Pop Mart company will establish its regional hub in London, and Chery Commercial Vehicle will set up its European headquarters in Liverpool, and HiTHIUM’s investment will bring £200 million and 300 high-quality jobs in energy storage sector. All these achievements will generate substantial economic value for the UK and bring tangible benefits to working people across the country.

China and the UK are major cultural countries with profound heritage and a long history of friendly people-to-people exchanges. Around 200,000 Chinese students study in the UK, making them the largest group of international students, and over 10,000 tourists travel between the two countries daily.

China’s visa-free policy, once implemented, will facilitate cross-border travel of UK travellers, further shortening the distance between the two peoples. More British people from the government, parliament, and subnational entities are welcome to visit China and develop a comprehensive, objective, and correct understanding of China. We have also been encouraging Chinese travellers to visit the UK for exchanges on culture, education, tourism, science and technology, and youth affairs.

As permanent members of the UN Security Council and major economies, China and the UK shoulder important responsibilities for world peace and development.

Faced with rising unilateralism, protectionism, and power politics that severely undermine the international order, the two countries should advocate and practice true multilateralism, make the global governance system more just and equitable, build an equal and orderly multipolar world, and embrace a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, moving the world toward peace, stability, prosperity, and development.

China firmly believes that all things grow together without harming one another, and all paths run parallel without conflicting with the other. Only when the world stands together can we overcome challenges. China is ready to develop friendly relations with all countries, including the UK, to build an open, inclusive, clean and beautiful world of lasting peace, universal security and shared prosperity, and strive for a community with a shared future for humanity.

China and UK engagement and collaboration, reflecting the shared aspiration of all parties and an inevitable outcome of the evolving global landscape, is not by choice, but by necessity. In this sense, Starmer’s visit “made history” and set up an important milestone in China-UK relationship, reinvigorating more encouraging opportunities to practical cooperation between China and Northern Ireland.

In the forthcoming Chinese New Year of the Horse of 2026, for China and the UK, let our horses run shoulder to shoulder in the same direction for greater success.