China's port city eyes deeper cooperation with Britain

People watch a promotion video of China's northern port city of Tianjin at an investment and business promotion event for Tianjin, held in London, Britain, on April 24, 2025. An investment and business promotion event for China's northern port city of Tianjin was held in central London on Thursday, with enthusiastic participation from both Chinese and British stakeholders. [Photo/Xinhua]

An investment and business promotion event for China's northern port city of Tianjin was held in central London on Thursday, with enthusiastic participation from both Chinese and British stakeholders.

Tianjin, a key coastal hub in northern China and a strategic gateway to Northeast Asia, was a prime destination for investment as the city boasts a strong industrial base, rich educational and scientific resources, and world-class infrastructure, said Zhai Lixin, vice mayor of Tianjin.

Zhai highlighted the solid foundation of cooperation between Tianjin and Britain as the import and export trade between Tianjin and the United Kingdom (UK) reached 1.49 billion pounds (1.99 billion U.S. dollars) in 2024, marking a 7 percent year-on-year increase.

The city looks forward to strengthening cooperation with British enterprises in fields such as AI, biomedicine, clean energy, finance, trade, and smart cities, said Zhai.

Chinese Ambassador to the United Kingdom Zheng Zeguang said Tianjin presents ample opportunities for businesses from around the world to carry out mutually beneficial cooperation.

The ambassador reiterated China's determination to continue expanding high-standard opening up, noting that China's overall tariff level had been reduced to 7.3 percent, and that the negative list for market access would be further shortened.

Zheng expressed hope that the Chinese and British governments would work together to create a predictable, just, fair, and non-discriminatory business environment to facilitate cooperation between companies from both countries.

He also called for deeper cooperation in key sectors, including financial services, clean energy, and AI, to deliver visible and tangible benefits to both peoples.

Sherard Cowper-Coles, chair of the China-Britain Business Council, noted that Britain and Tianjin have many areas of complementarity, ranging from green technology and sustainable innovation to education and professional services.