On 25 July 2025, the Chinese Embassy in the UK held a reception celebrating the 98th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Liberation Army of China. Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang pointed out in his speech that under the strategic guidance of President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Keir Starmer, China-UK relations have embarked on the right track of improvement and development. Since the beginning of this year, the two sides have held nine dialogues, including the Strategic Dialogue, the Economic and Financial Dialogue, the Energy Dialogue, the High-level Military Dialogue, the Health Dialogue, the AI Dialogue, the Senior Leadership Forum, the Climate Dialogue and the Environment Dialogue. Both sides should uphold the original vision for their strategic partnership, follow the principles of mutual respect, seeking common ground while reserving differences and pursuing mutual benefits through cooperation, so as to write a new chapter in China-UK relations.

Ambassador Zheng emphasised that military-to-military relations are an important component of China-UK relations. In April,  Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, UK Chief of the Defence Staff, visited China and had an in-depth exchange of views on mil-to-mil relations with General Liu Zhenli, member of China’s Central Military Commission and Chief of Staff of the CMC Joint Staff Department. It is hoped that the two militaries will continue to enhance communication and engagement, improve mutual understanding and trust, and play an important role in the sound development of China-UK relations.