CRI听力:?British foreign secretary's visit to China set to promote bilateral ties, officials

Britain's new foreign secretary's upcoming visit to China is expected to promote the development of China-Britain global comprehensive strategic partnership for the golden era.

Officials say multilateralism, global governance and free trade will be the highlights of the visit.

Britain's new foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt is coming to China for strategic dialogue between the two countries.

Geng shuang, spokesperson with Chinese foreign ministry, says the visit is of great importance to developing bilateral relations

"China also attaches great importance to deepening cooperation with Britain in various fields. We believe Hunt's visit will enhance the political mutual trust between the two countries, and push for a still greater development of China-Britain global comprehensive strategic partnership for the 21st century in the new era."

The spokesperson adds that the relationship between China and Britain has maintained good momentum for continued development. 

British Prime Minister Theresa May visited China earlier this year and held an annual meeting with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. 

The two leaders signed a dozen deals including trade, finance, health care and smart city, pledging to further promote the Golden-Era strategic partnership. 

Barbara Woodward, British Ambassador to China, has said the China-UK strategic dialogue offers an important platform for the two countries to conduct bilateral consultations in various fields. 

"The UK is a very very strong supporter of free trade and multilateralism. And we will want to work with China to make sure the WTO is able to preserve and protect the free trade order." 

The ambassador says there is a broad scope for the two countries to expand their cooperation. 

" We want to of course to continue to expand our visa services and we have announced that we are going to build a new embassy here in Beijing that is representative of our golden era. [In] education, sport, tourism, all of those areas, there's lots of scope for the UK and China to deepen our golden era."

During the visit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Yang Jiechi, who heads the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC central committee, will each meet with the British foreign secretary.

Chines foreign minister Wang Yi will join foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt to preside over the strategic talks to exchange ideas on bilateral relations and international and regional hotspot issues.