(Yicai) Feb. 2 -- The relationship between the United Kingdom and China has entered a new era that is more stable and practical than the golden age, initiated by former British Prime Minister David Cameron in 2015, according to the UK's Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

"We've moved forward from the golden age, and we are now in an age of stability and strategic thinking, and also a comprehensive look at both of our economies going forward," Peter Kyle, who is a member of the delegation accompanying British PM Keir Starmer on an official visit to China, told Yicai in Shanghai on Jan. 30. "This is a much more practical place to be than we've been in the past." 

Starmer became the first British PM to visit China in eight years. He arrived in Beijing on Jan. 28 for a four-day official visit, bringing a delegation of senior executives and representatives from more than 60 companies and institutions, including pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca and the National Theatre in London.

"We have an industrial strategy in the UK which is pointing to policy stability for a 10-year period into the future," Kyle noted. "When you look at the five-year plan that China is embarking on, there is real overlap, there is real synergy. 

"So I think it's a great time for us to be exploring this," he said. “It's a great time for the PM to come and have a very high-level talk and for me to be here speaking to my counterpart as well.”

Starmer's delegation was in Shanghai to visit Envision Group, a green energy giant building a big energy storage project in northeast England, on Jan. 30, as well as the Design Innovation Institute Shanghai, a non-profit advanced research institution, the day after. 

During the visit, AstraZeneca announced that the London-based firm plans to invest USD15 billion in China over the next five years to expand its local drug manufacturing, research, and development footprint. 

The UK also hopes to attract more investments from Chinese companies, Kyle stressed. "Moving towards a sustainable future is a really important part of our future. Partnering with Chinese partners like Envision shows that we can get there quicker, and we can create more jobs and opportunities in Britain.

"If you look at the world's fast-growing sectors in the economy, you have life sciences, you have climate technology, you have AI, lots of these things China plays a leading role in, but so does Britain," Kyle said. “So there are lots of opportunities for us to partner in some of these areas to create opportunities for commercialization, for export, and also global trade.”

Editors: Dou Shicong, Martin Kadiev