00:00With Britain, now this new direct route between Xiamen and London is creating another connection,
00:06bringing businesses and travellers and the two countries closer together.
00:10Jen Kopstig, CGTN, London.
00:13Let's get more on the long-standing relationship between Xiamen and the UK.
00:18Our correspondent Siobhan McCall has more details. Siobhan?
00:21Thanks, Jen Hua. Yes, the cities of Xiamen and Cardiff, the capital of Wales,
00:24have been twinned since 1983. That marked the first time a city in the UK had twinned with one in
00:31China
00:31and they maintained strong links 43 years later.
00:36Xiamen University has strong academic links with several leading British universities,
00:41including Imperial College London.
00:43According to figures released by Xiamen authorities in 2025,
00:47there was $330 million worth of UK investment in the city
00:52and more than 140 UK-funded enterprises have been established there.
00:58Now, one major example is the global conglomerate, Aswire Group.
01:03Its parent company is London-based, but it has a major presence in Xiamen,
01:07establishing this company in 1993,
01:11which has developed into one of Asia's largest aircraft maintenance facilities.
01:15And UK-Xiamen cooperation is expanding into new industries,
01:20including clean energy and energy storage,
01:24with UK-based Infinity Energy Systems signing an agreement
01:27to establish a manufacturing centre for rechargeable flow batteries.
01:32Well, I spoke to Chris Torrens, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China,
01:36about the phone call between President Xi and Andy Burnham
01:39and the business opportunities this new airline route between Xiamen and the UK can open up.
01:45We had to wait a while, I suppose.
01:47I think Prime Minister Burnham in the UK has been getting his house in order.
01:51But the messages even early on were clear that the UK would maintain its strategy towards China.
01:59So it's really good that the call happened.
02:01It came a day after Prime Minister Burnham spoke to President Trump.
02:06So I think there was a lot of talk about addressing shared global challenges,
02:12but certainly it's good news for the British business community.
02:16And I think we're very happy that the call has finally taken place.
02:20Yes, they spoke about expanding cooperation.
02:23What do you think this could mean from a business perspective?
02:27Well, the call is the latest in a long line of engagements and communications,
02:35some of them meetings, some of them calls between the Labour administration and the Chinese government.
02:42And it maintains the momentum, which we saw under former Prime Minister Sikir Starmer.
02:49And that's a good thing.
02:51So we imagine that with the two economies aligning as much as possible over key priorities for each economy,
03:00we imagine there's going to be a continued push towards UK investment in key areas like health care,
03:07education, technology, particularly in services where obviously the UK excels.
03:12And that's very important for the UK economy.
03:16But also trying to attract, I think, more Chinese investment into the UK.
03:22And I understand that one of the points that President Xi Jinping mentioned was around protecting investor interest,
03:32Chinese investor interest into the UK.
03:34So I think it puts the ball back into the UK court to say, well,
03:38where are the red lines around Chinese investment into the UK?
03:41And can we have a little more clarity around that?
03:44But overall, I think it was a very positive step forward.
03:47And obviously, the British business community in China is really, really happy that the call took place.
03:53Now let's look at this new airline route from Fujian province to London.
03:57It's the first direct route.
03:59What do you think are the key reasons for its creation?
04:05So I think there are a number of reasons, perhaps, first of all, the growing UK-China trading relationship,
04:14which has been enjoying a reset over the last couple of years,
04:20saw the UK as a country of honour, actually, at CIFIT, which was in Xiamen last year.
04:25That's the China International Fair for Investment and Trade.
04:29And so the UK was a country of honour.
04:31And I think a lot of UK companies really had a good experience there.
04:36So I think the attitude towards Fujian and sort of opening the eyes of British investors
04:42with regards to Fujian, the size of the province, the size of the economy,
04:46that was a really positive step.
04:48And certainly, Fujian is known for electronics, high-tech manufacturing.
04:53There's biopharma there.
04:55Those are all sectors where the UK would like to partner.
04:58So I think that's one thing.
05:00What does this step say about the evolving relationship between the UK and China?
05:07Yeah, I think it's another positive step.
05:09As I mentioned, you know, we've had a succession of senior UK government officials visiting China.
05:15I know we've seen a resumption of this.
05:17I know we've seen a resumption of this.
