Visiting member of the British royal family, Prince Andrew attended a series of sports and industrial activities in Beijing on Tuesday.

 

Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, raised the profile of British equestrian expertise in China by paying a visit to the Sheerwood Equestrian Club in the suburbs of Beijing.

 

There he attended the Chinese-British Riding Club National Accreditation Award Ceremony, at which five clubs were awarded and China's top riding club coaches received certificates.

 

"We believe that this celebration is an opportunity to showcase China's progress in equestrian sports to a wider audience and serves as an example of successful Sino-British sport cooperation building up to Beijing 2008 and beyond to London 2012," Andrew said.

 

The award ceremony was accompanied by an equestrian display involving children, amateurs and national professional riders.

 

Andrew earlier visited an exhibition on eco-friendly building and technologies which runs from Tuesday to Thursday. At the exhibition, Andrew toured the British pavilion and met representatives from British companies and organizations participating in the exhibition.

 

"The progress in the Chinese economy has amazed observers across the world. British expertise stands ready to work with its Chinese counterparts to achieve greater growth in a broad range of industries," Prince Andrew said prior to his China visit. "I shall look forward to highlighting these opportunities during my visit."

 

During his stay in Beijing, Andrew met with State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan, Commerce Minister Bo Xilai and Mayor of Beijing Wang Qishan.

 

He will also tour Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, Shanghai and Suzhou, a scenic city in East China's Jiangsu Province.

 

This is Prince Andrew's second tour of China. His last visit was in April 2004.

 

(Xinhua News Agency March 29, 2006)