Aunt Mei’s whirlwind visit to China emptied Britain and signed a 9 billion pound bill, which focused on these areas.

　　CCTV News:The "belated" British Prime Minister Theresa May has arrived in China for three days, which is her first visit to China since she took office. This "whirlwind visit to China" has attracted global media attention.

　　"Antie May", Chinese for "Aunt Mei", is a nickname given to the British female prime minister by the friendly people of China. "Very honored!" The family-like address clearly made Mei Yi feel at home. But I believe that when she returns to China, she will also return home with a full load.

　　"Brexit" is the primary core issue that Theresa May faced after she became prime minister. Her diplomatic visits are basically concentrated in Europe. This official visit to China shows that she attaches importance to China and hopes to create a new situation for the relations between the two countries.

　　President Xi’s visit to Britain in 2015 ushered in a "golden age" of Sino-British relations, and this time, the British side claimed to create an upgraded version of the "golden age" visit. So, what’s important about this visit? What are the "golden" highlights of Sino-British cooperation?

　　Why Wuhan is the first choice for a trip to China after a year?

　　According to British media reports, as early as September 2016, theresa may, who has just taken up his new job, received an official invitation to visit China when he attended the G-20 Summit in Hangzhou. In February 2017, No.10 Downing Street announced that theresa may would visit China later that year. However, influenced by many domestic factors, it took several delays to promote today’s visit to China, which has been counted for nearly a year. Therefore, it has also been called "late arrival" by the media, which has aroused enthusiastic attention from all walks of life.

　　It is different from Macron’s choice of "the ancient capital Xi ‘an" as the first stop of his first visit, and starting his visit to China from the eastern starting point of the ancient Silk Road. The first stop of Theresa May was in Wuhan, and it only stayed for one morning. However, as can be seen from the itinerary, the pace is quite compact, and the activity time is measured in 15 minutes.

　　Theresa May and his party came to Wuhan University at the first stop to attend the Hubei British Education and Cultural Exchange Exhibition, and interacted with students. At the event site, Theresa May said that there are more than 150,000 China students studying in the UK, and the cooperation in the field of education enables young people in China and Britain to learn from each other and communicate with each other, and the cooperative relationship in our cherished "golden age" can also develop better and continuously.　　

　

　　Later, I visited the booth of Wuhan University’s school history and the booth of Wuhan University Debate Team, talked with the members of Wuhan University Debate Team, and then had a cordial interaction with the students of Wuhan No.49 Middle School. The students said hello to Theresa May in English.

　　The visit went straight to the theme of "education" and frequently interacted with students. From the choice of the first stop, it is not difficult to see that Theresa May attaches great importance to educational cooperation with China, focusing on exerting its soft power and focusing on the advantages of British education.

　　Wuhan is an important educational center in China and one of the cities with the largest number of students in the world. It is understood that 17 universities in Hubei Province and 12 universities including Manchester University in the United Kingdom have jointly established 27 cooperative education projects, and eight Confucius Classroom Centers in Northern Ireland jointly established by universities in Hubei Province and the University of Oster in the United Kingdom are also well received by local people.

　　In fact, Theresa May has always attached importance to the development of education since she took office, which can be seen from her administrative measures. Her "first fire" in domestic policy is to burn to education. She expects that educational reform will bring fairness to the country and emphasize elite governance, which is also her consistent administrative style. And the Theresa May delegation to China, also has the President of Manchester University, thus, Mei Yi is well prepared.

　　On the other hand, Theresa May is under pressure in Britain because of the differences in the specific practice of Brexit, and it is necessary to seize the opportunity to convey more positive information to the British people during his trip to China. Education has once again become a diplomatic trump card for Mei Yi’s visit to China. It is reported that China citizens are already the largest group of overseas students in Britain. At present, there are 155,000 China students in Britain, which alone brings 5 billion pounds of income to the British education industry every year.

　　According to British media reports, on the same day, the Theresa May government announced a series of cooperation projects with China in the field of education, with a total market value of 550 million pounds. This includes further expanding the previous exchange program of mathematics teachers between the two sides to 2020, and continuing to send 200 British mathematics teachers to China for exchange and study in the next two years; China and Britain have jointly initiated personnel training in preschool education.

　　The Chinese and British governments have always attached great importance to exchanges and cooperation in the fields of humanities and education. Britain is also one of the first three countries to establish a cultural exchange mechanism with China.

　　9 billion pounds of big orders related to the construction of Xiong’ an Science and Technology City! The focus is on these areas.

　　On the second stop of her visit to China, in Beijing, Teresa May ushered in the highlight of her visit and sought to strengthen economic and trade cooperation between China and Britain.

　　Theresa May attended the annual meeting between the Chinese and British prime ministers, and the Chinese and British prime ministers reached an important consensus on jointly promoting free trade. While the meeting was still in progress that afternoon, Theresa May sent an invitation to welcome Premier Li Keqiang to visit Britain as soon as possible and hold a new round of annual meeting between British and Chinese prime ministers.

　　With Britain’s withdrawal from the EU, how can the post-Brexit era be broken? Britain will also look further to the world and strive to build a "global Britain", of which China is a very important part. The "Belt and Road Initiative" advocated by China is highly compatible with theresa may’s "Global Britain" strategy. The upgrade of the "golden age" between China and Britain came together in the common "strategic opportunity period" of the two countries.

　　British Prime Minister Theresa May published a signed article in the Financial Times on January 31st, saying that with China’s opening to the outside world, China’s rapid economic growth has benefited British enterprises.

　　Earlier, it was reported that the "luxury" business group accompanying Teresa May’s visit to China included representatives from more than 40 companies, universities and industry associations, covering many industries such as finance, trade, medicine, education, communication and transportation. These include HSBC, BP, Standard Chartered Bank and Aston ⋅ Well-known enterprises and universities such as Martin, AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Company, Inmarsat and Manchester University. According to British media, this is the largest visiting delegation since Theresa May became prime minister. The European Times Network even sighed that so many companies are about to move the whole of Britain!

　　On February 1st, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced at a regular press conference that during British Prime Minister David Theresa May’s visit to China, China and Britain will sign a 9 billion pound economic and trade cooperation agreement, covering the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, finance, agriculture, science and technology and other fields. The two sides also agreed to jointly build Xiong ‘an Financial Technology City and Qingdao Zhongying Innovation Industrial Park.

　　The big order of 9 billion pounds has been made, and the next direction of Sino-British cooperation is to further promote Sino-British cooperation in the construction of the Belt and Road, strengthen cooperation in the field of innovation, and strive to raise the economic and trade relations between the two countries to a higher level.

　　In 2017, the China-Europe train, which originated in Yiwu, Zhejiang Province, traveled more than 10,000 kilometers and arrived at Bajin Railway Station in east London, becoming the first freight train in China to arrive in the UK, and was also regarded as a landmark event of the "Belt and Road" cooperation between China and Britain.

　　Britain is the first western country to apply to join the AIIB, and it is also the second country to inject capital into the infrastructure construction of the AIIB after China. Britain believes that Britain is a "natural partner" of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, and has announced that it will set up a special envoy for the Belt and Road Initiative, set up a Belt and Road Committee composed of senior business leaders, and further promote the Belt and Road Initiative. The UK Export Finance Agency is also prepared to contribute 25 billion US dollars to support the Belt and Road Initiative.

　　Britain has actively carried out "One Belt, One Road" cooperation with China, and various pragmatic cooperation measures have set an example for other western powers.

　　China is Britain’s second largest trading partner outside the EU. While Britain seized the opportunity of China, China combined its own advantages to connect with Britain’s economic revitalization plan with the Belt and Road Initiative, forming a cooperative situation of mutual benefit and common development. It is reported that at present, more than 500 China enterprises have settled in Britain, and their investment projects have extended from traditional fields such as trade, finance and telecommunications to emerging fields such as new energy, high-end manufacturing, infrastructure and R&D centers. By the end of last year, China’s accumulated financial direct investment in Britain and Africa reached US$ 19.14 billion. Britain has become China’s second largest investment destination in the EU.

　　There is no doubt that Sino-British economic and trade cooperation has entered the "fast lane". The cooperation between China and Britain around the "Belt and Road" is mutually beneficial and win-win. With the further expansion of two-way investment, bilateral trade is developing in a more healthy and balanced direction. The "Belt and Road" initiative will usher in a new era of Sino-Western cooperation and mutual learning between East and West. (Text/Tian Hong)