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BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- Like it or not, modern China-UK relations started with a war and the UK's colonial meddling in China. In 1839, the UK used its naval power to reverse its trade deficit with China. Known as the First Opium Wars, the conflict forced China to open five treaty ports, and it lost Hong Kong. Back then, China was weak and vulnerable while the UK was the empire on which the sun never set.
More than 100 years later the UK surprisingly became the first western developed country to recognize the People's Republic of China as an independent country in 1950, a strong show of support for China's new government.
Since then, China-UK bilateral relations began heating up. The two countries established a diplomatic relationship in 1972 and a bilateral strategic partnership in 2004.
The issue of Hong Kong proved to be a landmark in China-UK ties. Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited China in 1982 and started the long negotiations over Hong Kong. And in 1997 the UK relinquished control of Hong Kong.
Afterwards meetings between leaders from both sides became much more frequent. In 1999, former Chinese President Jiang Zemin visited the UK in what was the first state visit of a Chinese leader to the UK. In 2005, former Chinese President Hu Jintao visited the UK and signed a set of cooperative agreements. And in 2008, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown visited China twice. The UK issued a strategic cooperation framework with China the next year.
But the relationship hit a rocky patch when current British Prime Minister David Cameron met the Dalai Lama in London in 2012. Cameron tried to get the relationship back on the right track in 2013 during a visit to China.
This year marks the beginning of the two countries entering a golden age together. The UK's application to join the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank was the first in the "western" world. And President Xi's visit is expected to further boost the "golden era" of the China-UK relationship.
(Source: CNTV.cn)
