Britain-China tie brings "tremendous opportunities"

LONDON -- There are "tremendous business opportunities" for Britain and China based on the developed country's abilities to provide high-quality services for China, Long Yongtu, China's former chief negotiator for WTO entry said on Monday.

Long, also secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia, told an audience in London's central financial district, "China's economic transformation and fast-growing economy will provide excellent opportunities for cooperation with Britain."

Long, who was speaking at one of the London offices of KPMG to an audience of financiers, business people, students, and financial services professionals, said, "China's economy will transform from an economy emphasizing quantity to one emphasizing quality."

He added, "Without quality, people can hardly benefit from economic growth, and economic growth is part of building a strong China."

Economic growth had been driving the urbanization of China for the last three decades and would be the driving force for the next two or three decades before reaching the level where 70-80 percent of farmers were in cities, said Long.

Long said cities had to be well-managed "to ensure the quality of air, drinking water, and ensure there were no serious traffic jams that trouble the people every day."

The best practices of the international community needed to be adopted to help this process of urbanization and industrialization, he said.

"This demand will generate great business opportunities, and in many ways this country can meet that demand," said Long.

Long said Britain was the second largest country for providing trading services, and it also had the most advanced creative, media and advertising industries.

"That's why we believe there are tremendous business opportunities for Britain and China because it is a mutual demand," said Long.

He added that it was a "demand-driven relationship which is also mutually beneficial," and praised the first-class quality of white-collar professionals in Britain's businesses whose skills could be useful for China.

It is inevitable that the RMB will be internationalized, and London, as Europe's major financial center, was "playing an important role" in that internationalization, he said.

The agreement between the British and Chinese central banks to establish a reciprocal three-year sterling/renminbi currency swap line, with a maximum value of 200 billion yuan ($32 billion), was "a small step" but it was "in the right direction and was a very good start," said Long.

London would become an important center for China and "a bridgehead for China's internationalization of its currency," he said.