On 11 November 2025, Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang attended the opening ceremony of the China-Northern Ireland Economic, Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum in Belfast and delivered a keynote speech. Aisling Reilly, Junior Minister to First Minister in the Executive Office, Fang Wenjian, Chairman of the China Chamber of Commerce in the UK (CCCUK), and Li Nan, Consul General in Belfast, also delivered remarks. Speaker of the Northern Ireland Assembly Edwin Poots and Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI) Chairman John Healy, together with more than 400 representatives from the Northern Ireland government, Assembly and media and from Chinese and British business communities, attended the event.

Ambassador Zheng elaborated on the key messages of the Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee. He stressed that China will continue to pursue economic development as its central task, focus on high-quality development, and make new and important contributions to global economic growth. China will remain committed to high-standard opening up, steadily expand institutional opening up, and advance comprehensive pilot programmes for further opening of the services sector. China’s development will continue to inject certainty and positive momentum into the world.

Ambassador Zheng spoke highly of the fruitful cooperation carried out in recent years by China and Northern Ireland in areas such as trade, investment, education, culture and tourism. He encouraged all sectors in Northern Ireland to seize the historic opportunities arising from China’s innovation-driven development, expansion of domestic demand, green transition, and open cooperation during the 15th Five-Year Plan period and to grow together with the Chinese economy. He called on the business communities of both sides to seek greater synergy in key industries, expand two-way investment, maintain open channels for communication and cooperation, consolidate the foundation of friendly cooperation, and fully unlock cooperation potential, in a bid to elevate bilateral economic and trade relations to a higher level and deliver more tangible benefits to the peoples of China and the UK.

At the opening ceremony, the CCCUK and Invest NI signed an MOU on strategic cooperation. Themed “Communication, Dialogue and Cooperation Opportunities: Together for a Better Future”, the forum featured two sub-forums—“China-Northern Ireland: A Strategic Gateway for Trade and Investment” and “Opportunities and Practices of China-UK Business Cooperation in Northern Ireland”, where Chinese and Northern Irish enterprises shared cooperation information and carried out industry matchmaking. Business leaders attending the event noted that China’s enormous market and Northern Ireland’s unique “dual market access” advantage provide significant opportunities for enterprises on both sides to expand cooperation. They stressed the need to strengthen exchanges, tap cooperation potential, and achieve win-win development.

During the forum, Ambassador Zheng also met with Northern Ireland’s Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald. The two sides exchanged views on strengthening exchanges and cooperation between China and Northern Ireland in economic and other fields.