Beijing and London are ushering their bilateral relationship to a new era, and Chinese President Xi Jinping's first state visit to the UK this week will definitely help boost it.

Why do we call it a new era? It started from earlier this year, when British Prime Minister David Cameron met with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi in France, he raised the idea that 2015 is a "golden year" in Sino-British relations. Later on, leaders of the British government, not only Cameron himself, but also Chancellor George Osborne and Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond have all publicly hailed the importance of this year for bilateral ties.

Developing the Sino-British relationship has always been one of Beijing's focuses. Under the background of China entering a period of comprehensively deepening the reforms, its "go global" strategy, as well as that 2015 marks the second 10-year part of the China-UK strategic partnership, the two countries will be bound to witness new growth and breakthroughs in many aspects in the upcoming new era.

Britain is now hoping to cooperate with China in developing and reconstructing infrastructure, including high-speed rails and airports, which has never happened before. Not only that, the country used to be reluctant to let Chinese banks, save for the Bank of China, establish foreign branches in its market. Yet now, London is acting positively in this regard. The UK thinks highly of Chinese initiatives, such as the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and was the first Western power to announce that it would join. That combined with growing bilateral investment, the economic, trade and financial collaboration between the two will gain significant momentum.

Likewise, cooperation over innovative development, including environmental protection, tackling climate change, sustainable development, and cultural and educational exchanges will also experience a boost.

When it comes to working with China, Britain is actually doing better than other Western countries. For instance, some have set obstacles to prevent Chinese entrepreneurs from entering their markets, or voted down deals before a final agreement was reached with China. But the UK is welcoming collaboration with China publicly with open arms and few limitations. The UK's determination to join the AIIB presents a good example of its positive attitude toward China. It shows that although London will stay close to its ally Washington on international or national security issues, it won't ape the US at every step when it comes to its own interests.

The UK attaches great importance to its interests. As Britain's wartime prime minister Winston Churchill put it, "A nation has no permanent enemies and no permanent friends, only permanent interests." Such a philosophy will guide the country to go further on the path of seeking more advantages and benefits for itself.

In current international society, China is one of the most promising partners. With its broad market, well-stocked capital reserves and a number of improved technologies, China has significantly changed. Therefore, the attitude from the outside world toward China also needs to change.

In light of this, cooperating with China has become a trend worldwide. Not only the UK, but also an increasing number of Western countries are showing a strong desire to do this.

So far, Germany is China's biggest European trading partner, while France believes that it enjoys the best relationship with China compared with other EU members, since it was one of the first Western powers to recognize the People's Republic of China. Some Southern European nations such as Italy and Greece also have a desire to hitch a ride on China's economic development due to their sluggish domestic economies. The Sino-US relationship, despite more conflicts, is trying to explore the new type of major power relationship.

In the meantime, the promising status quo should not blind us from seeing the challenges. For example, the West tends to believe that its ideology as well as its values are superior. Britain and the US share the same perception in this regard and it is not going to change. It means that we might continue to hear unpleasant voices, including criticism over human rights in China.

To be honest, they have their own concept of human rights, while we have our own view. Given the two sides are at different stages of development, they are bound to have divergences over social and political issues. The point is how the two sides will place their differences in the big picture of national relations.

During the Occupy Central movements in Hong Kong last year, the British government reacted cautiously. It mirrors that divergences will still be there, but how to properly resolve the problems with mutual understanding and respect is much more important in the inevitable big trend of Sino-British cooperation.

The article was compiled by Global Times reporter Li Aixin based on an interview with Ma Zhengang, China's former ambassador to the UK. liaixin@globaltimes.com.cn

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