On 15 May, Ambassador Liu Xiaoming met with the Economist's new Editor Zanny Minton Beddoes at the Embassy. Others present at the meeting were Deputy Editor Edward Carr, Deputy Editor Tom Standage, Foreign Editor Robert Guest and Asia Editor Dominic Ziegler of the Economist, and Embassy Spokesperson and Minister Counsellor Zhang Yangwu.

Ambassador Liu congratulated Beddoes on her appointment as Editor of the Economist, noting that the Economist as a journal of political economy is highly influential not only in the UK but also in the world. The launch of the "China column" in recent years shows the importance the Economist attaches to China-related reports. He hoped that the Economist may, under Beddoes' leadership and by fulfilling its social responsibility as a high-end and serious newspaper, introduce today's China to the readers from a comprehensive and objective perspective and play a positive role in deepening understanding and knowledge of China here in the UK and around the world. The Chinese Embassy is willing to constantly strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the Economist.

Beddoes expressed admiration at China's tremendous achievements. China is growing in strength and rising in global position. The outside world needs to get a more comprehensive understanding of China. The Economist pays high attention to China-related reports. It will continue to devote great efforts to its China coverage and faithfully present China's overall development to the world.

Ambassador Liu also answered the guests' questions about China's economic situation, the "One Belt, One Road" initiative, RMB internationalisation, Hong Kong's political reform, the South China Sea, the trans-Pacific partnership, post-election China-UK relations, China-Russia relations and China-US relations.

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First published in 1843, the Economist has nearly 1.6 million subscribers around the world and is highly influential in political, business and intellectual circles. In 2012, the newspaper started a new "China column", which was the first column devoted to a single country after the launch of the US column 70 years ago in 1942.