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By Liang Xizhi, Deng Qian, Gui Tao, Peter Barker
LONDON, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- As China and Britain have entered a "Golden Era" of relations, their opportunities to strengthen economic and financial cooperation in third party markets has emerged, experts say.
Britain remains "open for business" and committed to maintain the Golden Era relations with China, British Prime Minister Theresa May said on Wednesday during her meeting with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai in London.
Many in Britain believe that China and the UK should take the opportunity during this Golden Era to bolster cooperation in third party markets.
Professor Kerry Brown, director of the Lau China Institute at King's College, London, said in an interview with Xinhua that there are opportunities for Chinese companies to work with British companies in third party markets because they are quite complementary.
Brown said the two countries will see a lot more of this sort of cooperation in the future, particularly in Africa and in the Middle East.
"I think the UK would bring analysis and local knowledge to the table, and the fact that it has got very very internationalized companies that have been out foraging overseas for a long long time. So there is a lot of knowledge," said the professor.
"China would bring capital to the table, and the ability to get things done, some of it new technology; and the fact that it is politically welcomed in a lot of these places, whereas the UK may have more political inhibitions in the way it operates," he added.
Stephen Perry, chairman of the 48 Group Club in UK, praised China's Belt and Road Initiative and believed the two countries could cooperate more in markets along this road.
"The Chinese imagination demonstrated by Belt and Road Initiative is exactly what the world needs to get out of QE and dull growth," Perry said many nations can experience development because of the Chinese initiative.
He pointed out that UK has a lot of experience in dealing in many unusual economies in various stages of development. The two countries can benefit from and can jointly develop third party markets.
"If the UK decides to prioritize the new areas of Belt and Road Initiative in Africa, then China and the UK can, indeed, have a golden era ahead," Perry said. "If we limit ourselves to bilateral trade and investment there will be a silver era. But it is the addition of third party work that heralds a golden era."
Keith Bennett, vice chairman of the 48 Group Club, says China and the UK have great potential to cooperate in third markets.
China is now a major player in the global economy and Chinese companies, both state and private, are being encouraged by the government to go out. In many cases, these companies are looking to invest and do business in countries, territories, industries and economic sectors where the UK has a long-standing presence, as well as deep connections and experience, sometimes dating back centuries, he said.
Bennett says that Chinese and UK companies have already worked well together in some part of Africa.
"I have seen this for myself, for example, when I accompanied a Chinese business delegation to South Sudan four years ago. The skills, possibilities and synergies of British and Chinese enterprises are therefore highly complementary not only in a bilateral sense but also for third markets and can deliver benefits not only to each other but also to local enterprises, people and economies," he said.
Professor Xiong Yu, chair of technology and operations management of Newcastle Business School at Northumbria University, believes that the stable partnership between the two countries is particularly important in a current volatile international environment.
Xiong said Britain's Northern Powerhouse strategy will form a win-win relationship with China's Belt and Road Initiative, which will not only benefit the two countries but have a positive impact on the whole world.
"The close cooperation between China and Britain will go beyond the scope of the two countries to influence the world. The two countries will bring other countries of the same values to participate actively in this cooperation mechanism and form a sound platform for economic and trade cooperation in third party markets," he said.
