China-UK cooperation under B&R to enter new era

China and UK are entering a new era of cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative on fruitful achievement yielded in the ninth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD).

Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai and British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond co-chair the Ninth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue in Beijing, capital of China, Dec. 16, 2017. [File photo/Xinhua]

Seventy-two policy outcomes were reached after the two sides held discussions on macro-economy, trade and investment, industrial strategies, financial reforms and development, as well as cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road construction.

As one of the key achievement, China and UK are proposing a bilateral investment fund with the first round of 1 billion U.S. dollars. It will be initiated by Chinese and British institutions, established and operated on the basis of commercialization and marketization, and invested in innovation, sustainability and consumption-driven growth opportunities in the U.K., China and third-party markets, to create jobs, promote trade and support China’s Belt and Road Initiative.

In the meantime, the two sides will strengthen the pragmatic cooperation in infrastructure connectivity, equipment manufacturing, finance, investment and other fields under the Belt and Road Initiative, explore third-party market cooperation along the Belt and Road, and achieve positive and sustainable trade and economic development and security results under the framework of the 21st-century global partnership.

In 2018, the two sides will jointly host the UK-China Dialogue on RMB Internationalization in London, in a bid to recognize the global use of the RMB and promote the key role of the Chinese capital market in market internationalization. China and Britain will further continue to advance cross-border RMB business between the two countries, support RMB use in China-UK trade and investment, agree to give further play to the role of RMB clearing banks in the UK and continue to promote the development of the London offshore RMB market.

Actually London has become the world's largest RMB offshore center aside from Hong Kong. The Chinese bond market and foreign exchange market are opened to the outside world to create new investment channels for British investors.

China is ready to work with Britain to provide new impetus to the development of "Golden Era" of Sino-British relations, said Vice Premier Ma Kai on December 16 when co-chairing the ninth China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD) with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond in Beijing.

Regarding the future path of China-UK financial cooperation, the Blue Book of the United Kingdom: Annual Report on Development of the United Kingdom (2016-2017) released in Beijing on December 15 noted that the Belt and Road construction has created huge cooperation space. For example, the two sides can make full use of multilateral platforms including AIIB and Silk Road Fund under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative, explore the establishment of industrial technical cooperation fund and infrastructural cooperation fund, and effectively connect London's offshore RMB service to Belt and Road construction.

During the Ninth China-UK EFD, Standard Chartered Bank also announced the decision to provide loans worth at least 20 billion U.S. dollars for the Belt and Road projects by late 2020. It is one of few international banks that can promote trade, capital and investment growth along the Belt and Road in the world, with 85 percent of revenues from Asia, Africa and the Middle East market.

"Our strategy fits in the Belt and Road Initiative, we will better support Chinese enterprises along the Belt and Road route and help customers in destination markets seize the opportunity from the Belt and Road initiative," said José Viñals, Chairman of Standard Chartered PLC.