BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao thanked Britain for its support to the Beijing Olympic Games Friday afternoon in a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

    Wen said that to hold a successful Olympic Games needs both the efforts of the hosting country and the support from other countries in the world, and he should thank the British government for its support.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao (1st R) meets with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 22, 2008. Gordon Brown arrived here Friday to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and other relevant events.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    He also expressed his wish that the next Olympic Games in London in 2012 would be a successful games of high standard, saying the Chinese government would also give its full support to the London Games.

    Congratulating British athletes' remarkable performance at the Beijing Olympic Games, Wen said he would watch the British culture show at the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games.

    He said China and Britain should strengthen cooperation on hosting the Olympic Games and take such cooperation as an opportunity to promote the cooperation in other fields.

    "Sharing development opportunities under the new circumstances, China and Britain should work hand in hand to respond to challenges, which is in the fundamental interests of both nations and both peoples and conducive to world peace and development," said Wen.

    He said China would work together with Britain to keep high-level visits, strengthen strategic dialogues and properly handle differences, in a bid to realize greater progress in bilateral friendly exchanges and reciprocal cooperation in various fields.

    Brown congratulated Wen for the "wonderful success" of the Beijing Olympic Games, saying the Games was excellent and billions of people around the world had witnessed both the growth of the Olympic movement and China's rapid development.

    He said Britain would learn from China's successful hosting of the Olympic Games, and he also congratulated Chinese athletes for their success in "winning so many medals".

    On bilateral ties, he said the British side attached great importance to the strategic partnership with China and looked forward to developing cooperation with China in extensive areas to jointly face the opportunities and challenges brought about by globalization so as to promote the lasting, steady and balanced development of world economy.

    Brown met with President Hu Jintao before meeting with Wen. He arrived here Friday to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and other relevant events.