Angus Robertson Photo: VCG

Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, External Affairs and Culture Angus Robertson is visiting three Chinese cities - Beijing, Kunming and Shanghai - from November 23 to 28.

As the first ministerial visit from the Scottish Government since 2019, Robertson's six-day trip will include extensive programs aiming to boost ties with China on climate and biodiversity, trade and investment, and people-to-people links in the fields of culture, tourism, education and social policy, the Global Times learned from the British embassy in Beijing on Tuesday.

As Scotland has a long history of intellectual, cultural and economic exchanges with China, Robertson said the visit provides an opportunity to promote business and cultural ties while discussing the shared challenge of the climate-biodiversity crisis.

Besides meetings with senior Chinese government representatives, Robertson is set to meet with alumni of Scottish universities, to speak with business leaders on energy and the green transition, and to discuss issues such as climate and biodiversity, and poverty alleviation.

"During my visit, I intend to sign our Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on culture and tourism, meet key stakeholders on energy and green transition and support the renewal of the long-standing research partnership between Kunming Institute for Botany and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh," said Robertson.

China has strong ties with Scotland in areas such as higher education, exports and investment, as well as tourism. From 2021 to 2022, there were over 20,000 Chinese students at higher education institutions in Scotland. In 2022, China was the sixth largest market globally for Scotch whisky and the third largest market for Scottish salmon. In 2019, China was Scotland's fastest-growing international inbound travel market with 172,000 visits to Scotland from China.

Global Times