Britain is expecting closer technological cooperation with China, which is turning into a "digital dragon", a British official has said in this south China boomtown--Shenzhen.
Technical cooperation with China is set for further breakthroughs in mobile telecommunications, digital TV and broadband technologies, given Britain's strong research and development capacity, said Stephen Timm, minister for E-Commerce and Competitiveness, during his visit to Shenzhen Thursday.
Timm said he was happy to hear that Legend Group, China's personal computer giant, had set up its European headquarters in Britain, and Huawei, a leading manufacturer of telecom equipment, was ready to follow suit.
China's high-tech enterprises could make full use of Britain's sound investment environment to expand their business operations, he said.
Likewise, many British companies had invested in the Chinese market, which had set up a solid basis for further cooperation with China in the high-tech sectors, he added.
According to Timm, Britain's investment in China has amounted to nearly 20 billion US dollars.
The minister called for China's participation in the global e-commerce market, which would not be "global" in the real sense without China, he said.
Timm is on his first official visit abroad since he took over the portfolio six weeks ago. His week-long China tour has also taken him to Beijing and Shanghai.
(Xinhua News Agency July 12, 2002)
