Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, holds talks with UK foreign secretary David Lammy on October 18, 2024. Photo: Xinhua News Agency

Senior Chinese officials on Friday met with the new UK foreign secretary David Lammy in Beijing, with both sides underscoring the willingness to promote pragmatic and mutually beneficial cooperation, which analysts viewed as a window for repairing and improving relations despite uncertainties. 

Lammy's visit, from October 18 to 19, is the first to China by a UK Cabinet minister under the new Labour government. 

During his stop in Beijing, Lammy met with Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang on Friday. 

Ding, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said that China is ready to work with the UK to further develop a more stable and mutually beneficial bilateral relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective and promote the upgrading of pragmatic cooperation in various fields, thus better benefiting the two countries and the two peoples and injecting more momentum into world peace and prosperity.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, also a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, held talks with Lammy on Friday as well. 

Wang said that China agrees to fully resume dialogue and cooperation mechanisms in various fields and actively carry out mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, finance, green development, science and technology, health, education and people-to-people exchanges.

Wang said major power competition should not be the backdrop of this era, and China is ready to work with the UK to take openness and cooperation as the main theme, deepen strategic communication, promote practical cooperation and push China-UK relations into a new stage of stable development. 

For his part, Lammy mentioned that the UK looks forward to strengthening exchanges and dialogue with China at the top and other levels, expand cooperation in areas such as climate, energy, science, trade and tech.

He noted that the British government is committed to effectively managing differences with China in a coherent, mutually respectful manner that serves the long-term interests of both sides. And the UK and China share extensive common interests and there should be no "iron curtain" between the two countries.

Lammy said the British side honors its commitments on the Taiwan question made at the time of the establishment of diplomatic relations with China and will continue to do so in the long term.  

Analysts said that despite Lammy's visit is not enough to mark a full-scale warming of China-UK relations, it could be a preliminary and vital step toward normalization and reviving of ties. 

Given the lukewarm or even frosty ties in the past few years, it's unrealistic to expect very concrete or groundbreaking results from Lammy's visit, Cui Hongjian, a professor at the Academy of Regional and Global Governance at Beijing Foreign Studies University, told the Global Times.

However, during this visit, China and the UK have made further progress in restarting the dialogue mechanism, committing to implement the important understandings reached between the leaders of the two countries during their phone call in August, and strengthening economic and trade ties, which will play a positive role in reviving bilateral relations, Cui noted. 

According to the official release, Lammy is expected to meet with British business leaders in Shanghai to discuss how economic links with China support growth in the UK, after meeting with senior Chinese officials in Beijing.

"The UK is to take a stable, consistent and pragmatic approach to China, with engagement vital between two global players," said a UK foreign office press release ahead of Lammy and Wang Yi's meeting on Friday.

While the visit is expected rebuild mutual trust and strengthen communication, there is still uncertainty about how dynamic and sustainable Keir Starmer's administration's "pragmatic approach to" China will be, said Cui. 

Enough political wisdom is currently required for the Starmer administration to maintain a balance among domestic political forces, and they also need courage to reform and avoid "backing down" on the cooperation and engagement stance due to the negative public opinion atmosphere in the UK toward China, Cui said.