Editor's note:
China's President Xi Jinping is on a state visit to the UK at the invitation of the Queen Elizabeth II from Oct. 19 to 23, 2015. Xi's visit to the UK is the first by a Chinese president in over a decade. China and the UK will work together to usher in a "golden era" for comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. The Sino-UK relationship is in a growth trend and faces new development opportunities. What highlights in the Sino-UK relationship will be written into the annals of the history? People's Daily Online sums up 26 key words from A to Z. [Special coverage]
A- Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)
In March 2015 the United Kingdom applied to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and became the first major Western country to apply full membership of the AIIB. China positively commented on the UK's action.
B- Bilateral ties lifted to a new height
On Oct. 20, 2015, President Xi Jinping delivered a speech at the British Parliament. He emphasized that China and the UK strengthen mutual understanding, support and friendship. On Oct. 21, President Xi and Prime Minister Cameron reached an agreement to build a "global comprehensive strategic partnership" in the 21st century.
C- Chequers Talk
During this visit, President Xi and his wife come to Chequers, a country house retreat of the British Prime Minister and had dinner with the Camerons.
D- Destination of Investment
By the end of 2014, direct investment from China to the UK had reached over 40 billion dollars. The UK has become China's biggest destination of investment in Europe, and over 500 Chinese companies have set up offices in the UK.
E- Education cooperation
The number of Chinese students in the United Kingdom has reached 150,000, taking almost half of the total number of Chinese students in EU and ranked the first of all overseas students in the UK. The Chinese government is still annually increasing scholarships for overseas students, and the UK government has been encouraging students to come to China through its "Generation UK" project.
F- Football Cooperation
In recent years China and the UK have had great cooperation and exchanges on football. In 2015, the two countries signed a Sino-UK youth football project.
G- Golden Era
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron said the relationship between China and the UK has entered a "Golden Era". He stressed that President Xi's visit is the best opportunity to deepen China-UK relations. In the written interview with Reuters, President Xi said he hopes his visit to UK will chart the course for the future growth of China-UK relations, inject new impetus in practical cooperation between the two countries in all fields and enable the two sides to jointly usher in a "golden time" for China-UK comprehensive strategic partnership.
H- High-speed Railway
In April, 2015, China and the UK set up a joint railway working group, and are encouraging corporations and financial organizations to join the UK's second high-speed rail project HS2. When the Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne visited China in September, he opened the HS2 contract bidding that was worth 11.8 billion pounds.
I- Interests in common
President Xi said in his speech at the UK Parliament on Oct. 20, 2015 that China and the United Kingdom are "increasingly inter-dependent and becoming a community of shared interests."
J- Joint Scientific Innovation Fund
The two countries have set up the Joint Scientific Innovation Fund, which is a new exploration in China-UK cooperation. This milestone in scientific cooperation helped propel cooperation in basic research, innovation, talent cultivation, etc., between the two countries.
