Premier Li Keqiang met with former British Prime Minister David Cameron in Beijing on Nov 27.

Premier Li praised Cameron for promoting the Sino-British relationship and cooperation while in office.

He said China highly values developing relations with the UK based on the principles of mutual respect and equal treatment, and stands ready to consolidate political mutual trust, deepen cooperation in key areas, such as trade, investment and finance, and further tap the potential of investment cooperation to achieve more results with benefits shared by the people of the two countries.

Noting the Brexit deal inked between the UK and the EU recently, the Premier said the UK and the EU are important partners for China, adding that China is pleased to see a peaceful, stable, prosperous and open UK and EU, and will continue to push ahead with healthy and stable Sino-British and China-EU relations.

China hopes to work with the UK and the EU to safeguard multilateralism and free trade, and achieve win-win results in openness and cooperation, he said.

Cameron said that when he served as British prime minister, the two countries entered their “golden era” of relations with joint efforts. At present, Sino-British cooperation has been continuously deepened and the two-way investment and trade increased.

The UK will stand firmly, as in the past, for rule-based multilateralism and free trade, he said.