On 16 January 2025, H.E. Ambassador Zheng Zeguang attended the Asia House Annual Outlook 2025 launch and delivered a keynote speech titled "Advancing China-UK Mutually Beneficial Cooperation with Confidence and Determination." Lord Green of Hurstpierpoint, Chairman of Asia House, along with nearly 300 guests including senior government officials, business leaders, academics, and members of the diplomatic corps participated in the event both online and offline. 

Ambassador Zheng highlighted that over the past year, China has taken a series of measures to make steady progress for the economy, with new achievements in high-quality development, new headway in green and low-carbon transformation, new record for foreign trade, and improvement in opening up. China remains the biggest engine driving the world economy. The Chinese economy has once again exceeded outside forecasts, and proved those Western politicians who tried to talk China down wrong.

In 2025, China will go all out to implement the decisions of the Central Economic Work Conference, and with a focus on nine key areas, will work to maintain steady economic growth, keep employment and prices generally stable, ensure a basic equilibrium in the balance of payments, increase our citizens’ income in step with economic growth and implement proactive fiscal policy and moderately easy monetary policy. We should never underestimate the challenges and headwinds. China will redouble our efforts to keep the economy on an upward trajectory, steadily meet the set development targets and bring more stability and certainty to the world.

Ambassador Zheng pointed out that Asia-Pacific is the world’s most dynamic economy and the primary engine of global economic growth. Confronted with rising unilateralism and protectionism and geopolitical tensions, China will enhance dialogue and deepen cooperation with other Asia-Pacific countries, to build an open and interconnected paradigm for Asia-Pacific cooperation, make green innovation a catalyst for the Asia-Pacific, uphold a universally beneficial and inclusive vision for Asia-Pacific development, and build an Asia-Pacific community with a shared future.

Ambassador Zheng noted that China attaches a lot of importance to its relations with Europe. China and the EU are each other's second largest trading partner. The UK included, trade between China and Europe stands at over 920 billion US dollars a year. China-EU two-way investment stock exceeds 250 billion US dollars. The EU should realise that China-EU economic and trade cooperation has huge potentials and is mutually beneficial and must resist the temptation of protectionist measures. We look forward to working with the EU to uphold partnership, seek mutual benefits, expand opening up and cooperation, and properly handle frictions and differences.

Ambassador Zheng pointed out that over recent months there has been new progress in China-UK relations. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer had a successful meeting in Brazil. Foreign Secretary David Lammy made a productive visit to China. China and the UK has just held the 11th economic and financial dialogue. The two sides are also exploring to reactivate intergovernmental dialogue in various areas including education, science and technology, energy, and climate change. Now, China-UK relations stand at a critical juncture. We should seize the moment and eliminate disturbances. The UK should put cooperation at the centre of its relations with China. The focus should not be on challenge or competition. We must actively expand mutually beneficial cooperation in trade and investment, financial services, clean energy, healthcare, sci-tech innovation, education, culture, tourism, and climate change. 

It is hoped that the business communities, think tanks, scholars, and opinion-makers of both China and the UK would grasp the general trend, and work proactively for sustained and steady progress in China-UK relations.

The participants engaged in lively discussions, noting the continued role of Asia-Pacific economies as global growth engines in 2025, the robust momentum of China’s economic development, and the encouraging progress in China-UK relations, and believed these will bring more stability and certainty to a turbulent world.