On September 3, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming and his wife Madam Hu Pinghua attended the official banquet of the China-UK Business Leaders Forum hosted by the City of London. Ambassador Liu delivered a speech entitled Produce New Outcomes and Provide New Impetus. More than 200 government and business representatives from China and the UK were present, including Peter Estlin, Lord Mayor of the City of London，and Richard Burn, HM Trade Commissioner for China. During the banquet, “UK-China Charity Initiative” launched its poverty alleviation project in Yunnan Province.

Ambassador Liu said that China-UK financial cooperation is full of vitality and the financial sectors of the two countries are bound together in a community with shared interests in win-win cooperation. Looking forward, the two countries should make the following three efforts to achieve greater progress in China-UK financial cooperation. First, China and the UK should match their comparative strengths in financial services, management and innovation. The strengths of the two countries combined could achieve multiplying effect. Second, China and the UK should fully leverage the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) to add wings to China-UK financial cooperation. Third, China and the UK should make full use of China’s opening-up policies to produce new outcomes in China-UK financial cooperation and provide new impetus to the world’s financial and economic development. Speaking highly of the China-UK Charity Initiative which has borne fruitful results in less than a year since its launch, Ambassador Liu extended his best wishes to the Charity Initiative for a great success and greater contribution to the charity works of both countries.

The Lord Mayor said that China-UK financial cooperation is in full bloom with outstanding outcomes achieved in fields such as green finance, FinTech, and RMB Internationalization. Within this year, he has visited China three times, which has not only produced significant outcomes but also deepened his understanding of Chinese history and culture. He believed that a deeper mutual trust would lead to a closer relationship and win-win cooperation. Over the past decade, China has tripled its economic growth and the UK is glad to have contributed its part. The cooperation between the UK and China has a bright future. The Lord Mayor hoped that the City of London would help more British companies to expand their business in China and welcome more Chinese investments into London, so as to enhance the economic and trade relationship of the two countries.

In his speech, Richard Burn noted that with the ever-deepening economic and trade cooperation between the UK and China in recent years, more than 30 Chinese finance organizations have set up branches in London. In 2018, London has issued several renminbi-denominated bonds and became the world’s biggest offshore renminbi trading hub. The UK and China are natural partners. No matter how the international landscape may evolve, cooperation on economic and trade investment will always bring the two countries together. He hoped that the UK and China would keep making efforts to deliver more outcomes in the bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

During the banquet, the China-UK Charity Initiative launched its second poverty alleviation project - a health clinic in Daluo Village, Zhemi County, Yunnan Province, China. Upon completion, the project will benefit around 400 villagers and improve the local health care condition. The China-UK Charity Initiative was launched as a partnership between Lord Mayor’s Appeal (LMA) and China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK), aiming to leverage all the possible strengths to make contribution to the charity works in China and the UK. Since its inception, both sides have jointly hosted a series of fundraising events. Half of the funds raised are used to support the charity projects under the framework of LMA and the other half for the poverty alleviation projects in China under the framework of China-UK Charity Initiative.