Theresa May is handing Chinese president Xi Jinping a DVD set of theBBC’s Blue Planet today – as she pushes for a post-Brexit trade deal.
The Prime Minister is holding talks with President Xi in Beijing on the latest stage of her mission to woo the giant economy and enhance the ‘Golden Age’ of ties.
As well as the potential for boosting trade, the leaders are likely to cover difficult topics such as North Korea and human rights.
Mrs May’s choice of gift – accompanied by a personal message from David Attenborough – is intended as a signal of her commitment to the environmental issues highlighted in the series.
The Prime Minister is holding talks with President Xi in Beijing on the latest stage of her mission to woo the giant economy and enhance the ‘Golden Age’ of ties
Theresa May met President Xi Jinping today on the second leg of her visit to China
Seated opposite President Xi in the opulent Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Mrs May said Britain and China were enjoying a ‘golden era’ in their relationship
Theresa May and husband Philip posed for a picture inside the Forbidden City in Beijing today
The couple took time out of the PM’s busy schedule to see the famous Forbidden City today
But it also risks comparisons with the rather more extravagant present from Emmanuel Macron when he visited. The French president brought a prize horse named Vesuvius from the presidential cavalry corps.
Seated opposite President Xi in the opulent Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, Mrs May said Britain and China were enjoying a ‘golden era’ in their relationship.
She said she wanted to ‘take further forward the global strategic partnership that we have established’.
And she said there were issues on the global stage where the UK and China can ‘work together’ as permanent members of the UN Security Council and fellow ‘outward-looking countries’.
Yesterday Mrs May met premier Li Keqiang – Mr Xi’s deputy – and agreed a new trade and investment review, seen as a stepping stone to a full free trade agreement after Brexit.
Mr Li promised Beijing will further open up its markets to the UK – with British beef set to go back on the menu in China for the first time since the BSE crisis in the 1980s.
The PM said they had agreed to intensify the so-called ‘golden era’ in their bilateral relationship.
She told a joint news conference with Mr Li that with UK-China trade currently worth a record £59 billion a year, she expected deals worth a further £9 billion to be signed during the course of her three-day visit.
Mr Li said their talks had delivered ‘substantive results’ and that their bilateral relationship would not be affected by Britain’s impending withdrawal from the EU. ‘We will work to maintain the continued growth in our bilateral relations to take forward our relationship in the golden era,’ he said.
‘The two-way opening up between China and the UK will go even further and China will open even wider to the UK.
Discussions with Mr Xi are expected to focus on international issues, including the continued defiance of the international community by North Korean Kim Jong-Un over his nuclear and ballistic missile programme.
Blue Planet II was a massive hit in China, with at least 80 million viewers believed to have tuned in to its remarkable scenes of natural wonders beneath the waves.
So many Chinese fans streamed the programmes online that it was reported to have slowed down the internet across the country.
The Prime Minister, pictured with a ceremonial lion outside the British embassy in Beijing this morning, will hold talks with President Xi in Beijing later on the latest stage of her mission to woo the giant economy
Yesterday Mrs May met premier Li Keqiang – Mr Xi’s deputy – and agreed a new trade and investment review, seen as a stepping stone to a full free trade agreement after Brexit
Mrs May visited a greenhouses research centre in Beijing earlier today ahead of the talks
It is not known what Sir David said in his written message to the Chinese president.
But he used the series to deliver an impassioned plea for action to stop the poisoning of the oceans.
Mrs May’s talks yesterday covered a wide range of issues including human rights, the protection of intellectual property rights and overcapacity in the international steel market, with China committed to a 200 million tonne cut in its steel production between 2016 and 2020.
The two leaders said that they had also agreed to co-operate more closely on the United Nations Security Council to uphold world peace and the international rules-based order, including in relation to North Korea.
‘We agree that its pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes is illegal, reckless and poses an unacceptable threat to international security,’ Mrs May said.
Mrs May said the UK was a ‘natural partner’ for President Xi’s flagship Belt and Road Initiative to establish overland transport links between China and Europe, and they would be discussing how best they could co-operate on the project while maintaining international standards.
Mrs May’s choice of gift – accompanied by a personal message from David Attenborough – is intended as a signal of her commitment to the environmental issues highlighted in the BBC’s Blue Planet series
French president Emmanuel Macron brought a prize horse named Vesuvius from the presidential cavalry corps when he visited China with wife Brigitte earlier this month (pictured)
British officials made clear that the PM was concerned about how open the civil engineering projects linked to the initiative would be to bids from companies in the UK. But they stressed that Britain’s stance towards the massive infrastructure project was positive.
UK-based health-tech Artificial Intelligence company Medopad announced over £100 million of commercial projects and partnerships in China.
Medopad has signed 15 trade deals, with leading Chinese organisations including China Resources, GSK China, Peking University, Lenovo, Ping An Good Doctor and UMP Healthcare.
The company’s chief executive Dan Vahdat said: ‘We are honoured to announce collaborations and projects with leading Chinese and international healthcare, technology, academic and corporate partners.
‘Together we will work to improve patient care in China and around the world, and we look forward to our technology and AI capabilities contributing a small part towards China’s healthcare reform goals.’