国内英语新闻:Chinese vice premier arrives in Britain for visit

EDINBURGH, Britain, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for a four-day official visit to Britain.

Upon his arrival, Li said in a statement delivered at the airport that recent years have seen steady progress in China-Britain relations and that increasingly strong political ties and fruitful cooperation across the board have brought real benefits to the peoples in both countries.

"In the midst of profound changes of the global landscape, closer cooperation between China and Britain will not only benefit the two counties and peoples, but also contribute to world peace, stability and prosperity," he added.

Li stressed that he hopes to explore with the British side ways to cooperate more closely and turn the two countries into partners of mutual respect and equality in the political arena, partners of mutual benefits and shared growth on the economic front and partners of close coordination and equal cooperation on international affairs.

Edinburgh is Li's first stop in Britain. He will later travel to London and meet with British Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne and Foreign Secretary William Hague.

Britain is the last leg of Li's three-nation Europe tour, which has already taken him to Spain and Germany.

Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming told Xinhua that as the first visit by a Chinese leader to Britain since the current British government took office and the first high-level exchange between the two countries in 2011, Li's ongoing trip has great significance for the development of the China-British relations.

Trade between Britain and China is booming. Bilateral trade in goods reached 40.2 billion U.S. dollars between January and October last year, marking a year-on-year increase of 30 percent. The two sides have also made great progress in trade in services.

During Cameron's visit to China in November, leaders of the two nations set a target to raise annual bilateral trade volume to over 100 billion dollars within the next five years.

In the 2009-2010 fiscal year, China was the sixth largest source of foreign investment in Britain, while the number of Chinese companies investing in London ranked second.