Britain willing to work with China to protect free trade, multilateralism, says British diplomat

BEIJING - As a staunch defender of multilateralism, Britain seeks to work with China to protect free trade, British Ambassador to China Barbara Woodward said.

Amid the current tensions over global trade, Britain would like to work with China to make sure the World Trade Organization (WTO) becomes an effective part of the dispute-solving process, Woodward told Chinese media on Friday during a joint briefing here.

For the moment, as part of the European Union (EU), Britain is pleased to see China and the EU working together on WTO reforms to improve the organization, she said.

Woodward said Britain-China relations in trade and investment remain close. Britain welcomes China's further opening-up measures, and is pleased to see progress in the project connecting London's stock exchange with Shanghai's.

Britain will send a high-level delegation to take part in the China International Import Expo in November.

In the future, "we will be able to export British beef into China, and there will be more UK petrol stations setting up in China," she added.

Woodward hailed the good momentum of the Golden-Era relations between the two countries and highlighted the "new chapter" that was opened following Prime Minister Theresa May's visit to China early this year.

On Monday, Jeremy Hunt starts his first visit to China as Britain's newly-appointed foreign secretary. He will also attend the ninth round of strategic dialogue between the two countries.

At the forum, the two sides are expected to deepen their cooperation in multilateralism, security and foreign policies, as well as free trade.