On 2 December 2013, the “Essays of Ambassadors” column on page 3 of the People's Daily carried an article by H.E. Ambassador Liu Xiaoming, entitled “Seize Opportunities for a More Solid Foundation.” The full text is as follows:

      Recently, I delivered a speech on the subject of China’s reform at a prestigious club in London, and briefed the audience on the great achievements China has made in the past 35 years and the master plan for comprehensively deepening reforms adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee. Interestingly, the club is named the Reform Club. Founded by members of the Liberal Party in 1836, the Reform Club aims to promote reforms in the British Parliament and attract voters. The beginning and end of the fiction, Around the World in 80 Days by the French author Jules Verne well-known to the Chinese readers, were both at this club.

      In fact, a careful look at Britain will tell us that “reform” has been a catchword in Britain for hundreds of years and a ongoing process throughout the evolution of the British Parliament and other political and social systems.

      Today, both China and the UK face the daunting tasks of comprehensively deepening reform. The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee drew up a master plan for comprehensively deepening China's reform, sounding the clarion call for a new wave of reform in China. Britain is also making vigorous efforts to promote reforms in finance, education, medical care and social welfare. China and the UK are pushing forward and deepening reforms, which will provide a powerful impetus for the development in both countries and bring new and greater opportunities for China-UK cooperation in trade, investment, finance, culture, education, science and technology medical health and many other areas. The two sides should seize the opportunities and make joint efforts to find the new focus and draw up a blueprint for future China-UK cooperation.

      As major countries with important influence in world, China and Britain share yet another striking commonality, the spirit of openness. Since the Third Plenary Session of the 11th CPC Central Committee, opening up has come together with reforms. China has dedicated itself to opening up and China's interests are now interwoven with the rest of the world. The policy of opening up has not just enabled rapid growth in China but also turned China into a major engine for world economic growth. The establishment of China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone is the latest example of China's opening up policy and the Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee is the political manifesto of a further opening up policy. As far as I am concerned, many British enterprises are eager to see a new wave of development opportunities in China. Britain is the origin of free trade and upholds the principle of openness. It supports free trade and globalisation, opposes protectionism and welcomes Chinese investment. I believe that China and Britain should work together on the basis of the shared principle of openness to seize new opportunities of opening up, capitalise on our complementarities and achieve win-win results.

      Looking into the future, China and the UK should seize new opportunities of reform and opening up. At the same time, I think China and the UK should build a more solid foundation and make bilateral relations more stable.

      First of all, we should enhance mutual trust through dialogues. We should deepen dialogues at various levels and in various fields in the spirit of mutual respect, equality, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. We should also consolidate consensus, expand cooperation and resolve differences to inject more positive power to bilateral relations and jointly promote the healthy and steady development of bilateral relations.

      Second, we should enhance mutual understanding through exchanges. Both China and the UK have remarkable histories and splendid civilisations; both are committed to economic development and improvement of the welfare of the people; both are dedicated to reform and opening up, and both have a pioneering and innovative spirit. The two countries should increase cultural and people-to-people exchanges to break away from the stereotypes in people's mind and encourage our people to look at a modern China and a contemporary Britain from a new perspective. In this way, we can foster better feelings and friendship between the two peoples and lay a solid foundation of public support for bilateral relations.

      Winter ends overnight; Spring comes at dawn. On 2 December, British Prime Minster David Cameron will embark on a second visit to China after three years. I sincerely hope that China and Britain will jointly seize opportunities, lay a foundation of mutual trust and mutual understanding and start a wonderful season in China-UK relations.