On 22 January 2025, the “Icebreakers” Chinese New Year Dinner was jointly hosted by the 48 Group and the China Britain Business Council and the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK. Over 500 guests from different sectors in China and the UK were present at the event. H.E. Vice President Han Zheng of China sent a congratulatory message to the gathering. H.E. Ambassador Zheng Zeguang attended the event and read out Vice President Han Zheng’s message at the dinner.
In his congratulatory message, Vice President Han Zheng noted that in 1953, the late Mr Jack Perry led a group of people with insights from the British business community to break the ice of blockade with great courage and forward-looking wisdom, and opened the door to China-UK trade, laying the foundation for friendly cooperation and exchanges between the two countries. Looking back, the pioneering “icebreaking” spirit that features vision, openness and cooperation has driven China-UK relations to move forward for more than 70 years; and looking ahead, China and the UK both have great prospects of development and cooperation between the two countries has enormous potentials.
Vice President Han Zheng pointed out that in this changing and turbulent world, the international community faces increasing challenges. Both China and the UK are major economies and financial powerhouses in the world. Strengthening dialogue and cooperation and maintaining a healthy and stable relationship between the two countries will not only benefit both sides, but also the whole world.
China is ready to work with the UK to jointly implement the important common understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries, deepen practical cooperation in the fields of green and low-carbon development, artificial intelligence, financial services, trade and investment, education, and cultural exchanges on the basis of mutual respect and equality, and promote the steady and sustained development of China-UK relations. It is hoped that friends from all sectors in China and the UK will continue to uphold the "icebreaking" spirit and make greater contributions to promoting China-UK friendship and mutually-beneficial cooperation.
In his remarks after reading out the congratulatory message, Ambassador Zheng pointed out that Vice President Han Zheng's message fully recognises the historical contributions of the "icebreakers" since the 1950s to the development of China-UK relations, and demonstrates the importance attached by the Chinese government to growing our ties. This is also a call for action to visionary people from both countries in this new age.
We live in an age of increasing turbulence and profound changes--changes unseen in a century. Only with confidence, resolve and solidarity can we turn challenges into opportunities. In the past year, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core, China has made solid gains in advancing Chinese modernisation. In the new year, we will go all out to implement decisions of the third plenum of the 20th CPC Central Committee, and unleash new development vitality through further deepening comprehensive reform. We will adopt a more proactive fiscal policy and an appropriately accommodative monetary policy. We will vigorously boost domestic consumption and demand, and make sure our foreign trade and inbound investment will grow steadily. We will adhere to green development and open cooperation, and steadily promote high-quality development.
China and the UK should work together to earnestly follow through on the common understandings reached between President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer and transform the outcomes of the 11th Economic and Financial Dialogue into reality. It is hoped that the business communities in China and the UK will work together to carry forward the "icebreaking" spirit, build more bridges between the two countries, connect our two economies more closely, deepen the friendship between our two peoples, and bring China-UK relations onto a track of stable and mutually-beneficial development.
Mr Jack Perry, Chairman of the 48 Group, thanked Vice President Han Zheng for his message, and said that the 48 Group is ready to make new contributions to mutually-beneficial cooperation between the UK and China.
Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles, Chair of the CBBC, Mr Fang Wenjian, Chairman of CCCUK, Mr Stephen Perry, Honorary President of the 48 Group, Mr Dominic Barton, Chair of Rio Tinto, and representatives of PetroChina, HSBC, JD.com and BYD, among other Chinese and UK businesses, spoke at the event, and said that the potential for economic and trade cooperation between China and the UK is huge and growing the bilateral relations is in the interests of both sides and expressed readiness to contribute to the sound and sustained development of China-UK relations.
