The British Embassy in China revealed that the UK and China are launching a new partnership to support developing countries with the impact of COVID-19 improving their pandemic preparedness and stopping preventable deaths in mothers and children. 

In an interview with the Global Times recently, the embassy's spokesperson said the UK is focused on working with its international partners - including China - to share knowledge and identify opportunities to strengthen both its national and global response to this pandemic. 

"We are launching a bilateral program with China to support management of the virus in primary care settings, and to promote models for the regulation and financing of new vaccines and treatments," the spokesperson said.  

Heathrow Airport in London has installed a new rapid testing kit which can give COVID-19 results in 30 minutes. This was developed jointly by UK and China researchers.

British Ambassador Caroline Wilson spoke highly of the frontline workers' anti-epidemic achievements and expressed her wish to see more cooperation during her recent visit to Wuhan, Central China's Hubei Province hit hardest by the COVID-19 earlier this year. 

Wilson said during the visit, she saw a city that has had an incredibly difficult year, but local people are full of resilience and determination to build back better, according to the spokesperson. 

Chinese observers have said Wilson's trip and remarks demonstrated the existence of rational and objective voices from the UK which can offset the negative factors in bumpy China-UK relations in the past year.

Despite all the challenges of 2020, collaboration between the UK and Hubei continues in areas of people-to-people, healthcare and innovation, trade & investment and education. For example, Caroline Wilson was impressed by the innovative 3D printing healthcare project, which brings together UK ingenuity and Huazhong University of Science and Technology's technical resources, the spokesperson said. 

The spokesperson said currently there are no plans to increase the number of staff at the Consulate in Wuhan and the embassy will work with other parts of the UK diplomatic network in China and the  city relations that Wuhan enjoys with Manchester and Swansea to explore new areas for co-operation for mutual benefit.