UK-China People to People talks set vision for State Visit
Chinese Vice Premier, Liu Yandong, will visit London, Cardiff and Oxfordshire for the third People to People Dialogue.
The People to People Dialogue (P2P) is one of the UK’s key ministerial-level talks with China. It showcases cooperation between the UK and China on a range of social policy issues, and allows us to share knowledge in areas such as science and innovation, education and global health.
The 2015 P2P will take place from 16 to 20 September and the theme is ‘the UK and China working together on domestic and global challenges’.
During her visit, Vice Premier Liu will meet the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary, and will co-chair the P2P with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health. In Cardiff, she will meet the Welsh First Minister before visiting the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
Secretary of State and UK Chair of the P2P, Jeremy Hunt, said:
I am delighted to be chairing the third People to People Dialogue in London, in this golden year for UK-China relations. The P2P is an opportunity to develop even broader and deeper links to support the 21st century partnership between the UK and China, and an important part of our preparations for the upcoming China State Visit.
Further information
The P2P covers eight policy areas, which are central to the growth and prosperity of both nations: health, education, culture and creative industries, science, sport, tourism, youth exchange, and, for the first time, regional engagement.
The 2015 P2P will include the following.
- A Health Dialogue at the Royal College of Surgeons, led by Vice Premier Liu, Jeremy Hunt and Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organisation, with a commitment to work jointly on post-Ebola recovery in Sierra Leone by strengthening the health system and supporting the African Centre for Disease Control and Prevention.
- A Memorandum of Understanding between NHS England and NHFPC on Health Informatics. In the last year, UK companies have won £500m in healthcare contracts. UK Trade and Investment has a pipeline of healthcare business wins worth around £13bn between 2014 and 2019.
- In culture and creative industries, there will be a London-Shanghai Fashion Memorandum of Understanding, and an agreement to work towards a Television Co-production Treaty by end of 2016, worth £10m, which will allow UK TV producers to maximise their revenue from their co-productions with Chinese companies.
- An agreement between the British Council and the Chinese Sports Federation on the Developing Sports Education through Football Initiative, as well as a football match and forum, and a ministerial meeting on sports. The UK is keen to share its expertise on football training with China, and position itself as a leading delivery partner for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
- A Memorandum of Understanding on Tourism between the Department for Culture Media and Sport and the Chinese National Tourism Association, and a first exchange on enhancing tourism cooperation. China is forecast to be one of the UK’s fastest-growing tourism markets this decade and could be worth £1bn annually to the UK economy by 2020.
- Youth exchange will be an important feature of this year’s P2P. Delegates from young leaders programmes organised by the Great Britain China Centre and Common Purpose, together with the All China Youth Federation and the China Youth Daily, will attend the plenary meeting.
- The announcement of a new programme by the UK’s National Space Academy with China on using space science for teaching in secondary schools.
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