Chinese president meets British PM on ties

THE HAGUE, March 25 -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met here Tuesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron and the two sides vowed to strengthen cooperation between their countries.

Xi said China-Britain relations have entered a new chapter after Cameron's visit to China in December last year.

He called on the two sides to maintain high-level exchanges on the basis of respecting and taking care of each other's major concerns, and to strengthen communication and cooperation by giving full play to such mechanisms as the annual meetings between the Chinese premier and British prime minister and the China-Britain strategic dialogue.

The two sides, he said, should also work together to launch exemplary flagship projects in nuclear power, high-speed rail and finance, deepen cooperation in education, science and technology, and media, and facilitate people-to-people exchanges.

China values Britain's important role in the EU, and hopes that Britain will play a leading role in promoting the feasibility study of a China-EU free trade zone.

For his part, Cameron said Britain is dedicated to developing its relations with China and stands ready to work with China to ensure positive results from high-level exchanges and various dialogue mechanisms and promote major investment projects.

Britain, he added, supports an early signing of an EU-China investment pact, and is willing to play an active role in creating a Europe-China free trade zone.