UK-China ties flourish at 2016 High Level People to People Dialogue
UK-China collaboration has moved from strength to strength, with a wave of groundbreaking agreements at the 2016 UK-China High Level People-to-People Dialogue.
Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP and Chinese Vice Premier, Liu Yandong co-chaired the Dialogue at the Shanghai Tower.
Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP and Chinese Vice Premier, Liu Yandong co-chaired the Dialogue at the Shanghai Tower.
The Dialogue is a key pillar in the UK-China relationship, celebrating links between the two peoples. Policy strands for this year’s dialogue were education, science, health, tourism, sport, culture and creative industries, youth and regional cooperation, bringing together key themes of creativity, social equity and women’s equality.
Headline announcements at today’s Dialogue include the signing of the new UK-China TV Co-Production Treaty, making the UK only the second country in the world to have both film and television treaties with China; a Memorandum of Understanding on UK-China Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Innovation Collaboration; the signing of a new Host-to-Host agreement for cooperation on the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics 2022; and the British Library and National Library of China collaborating to display some of Britain’s most iconic literary treasures in China, including Shakespeare’s First Folio.
Secretary of State for Health, Jeremy Hunt MP said:
The UK-China High Level People to People Dialogue is about strengthening the collaboration between our two countries, building partnerships that benefit people in both our nations.
Both the UK and China have energetic economies, with innovation and creativity at the core. We are both global powers with a global outlook. In a golden era for our two nations, we are working together on global issues, building economies for the future, and developing our strong trade, investment and people-to-people links. The People-to-People Dialogue is an opportunity to deepen our engagement across policies central to the growth and prosperity of both our nations.
We have a shared commitment to ensuring the bilateral relationship delivers for all our people – linking UK towns and cities with their Chinese counterparts is a key part of this and I’m delighted that the Northern Ireland First Minister is here in Shanghai with us today. We’ve also agreed to step up UK-China collaboration on women’s equality and empowerment making this a fundamental element of our Global Partnership.
In addition to Jeremy Hunt MP, the UK official delegation included Secretary of State for Education and Minister for Women and Equalities, Justine Greening; Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, Karen Bradley; Northern Ireland First Minister, Arlene Foster; and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy’s Chief Scientific Advisor, Professor John Loughhead.
Secretary of State for Education, Justine Greening, said:
The UK and China share many priorities in the field of education, and we both recognise and highly value the benefits of international collaboration. Today’s agreements demonstrate our ongoing commitment to working together to build on the strong foundation we have laid over the past decades. As our bilateral relationship develops, the outcomes of today’s agreements, by providing us with opportunities to share ideas and expertise, will allow us to prosper together.
Details of the announcements and agreements made at the 2016 UK-China High Level People to People Dialogue can be found in the annex.
ANNEX
The following agreements were signed at the 2016 UK-China High Level People to People Dialogue.
Culture and Creative Industries
UK-China Television Coproduction Treaty
The UK-China Television Coproduction Treaty is a landmark agreement which will help to develop collaboration between both countries’ industries. The UK is now only the second country in the world to have both film and television treaties with China. The Treaty will help to create programmes that combine cultural characteristics of both countries and it will deliver a boon of around £55m per year for the UK television industry by helping them to access the burgeoning Chinese market.
Memorandum of Understanding between National Art Museum of China and the Tate Museum to present a British Landscapes Exhibition
Tate is working with the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC), in Beijing, to present ‘Landscapes of the Mind: British Landscape Painting 1700 – 1990’, opening in September 2018. The exhibition traces the remarkable development of Britain’s greatest contribution to European art – landscape painting – and is drawn from Tate’s unrivalled collection of British art. Among the celebrated artists represented in the exhibition are Thomas Gainsborough, JMW Turner, John Constable, John Everett Millais, James Abbott McNeill Whistler, Stanley Spencer, John Piper, LS Lowry, Frank Auerbach, and Richard Long.
Memorandum of Understanding between the British Museum and the China National Museum to present A History of the World in 100 Objects the Exhibition
The British Museum is honoured to present A History of the World in 100 Objects: the Exhibition in Beijing. Inspired by the highly-acclaimed 2010 radio series and book, which was produced in partnership with the BBC and Penguin Books, this unique exhibition sets out to tell one version of an extraordinary story - the history of the world. It is not told through writing, but through objects: the creations and inventions that people have made, and that have helped us to overcome the challenges that humankind has faced throughout the last 2 million years. The exhibition A History of the World in 100 Objects will be displayed in Beijing in 2017.
Agreement between the British Library and National Library of China on a British Literary Icons exhibition
An exhibition agreement between the British Library and National Library of China. The British Library will display some of its most iconic literary treasures in China. The exhibition is expected to include handwritten manuscripts and early editions by some of the greatest British authors of all time, from Shakespeare and Dickens to the Brontë sisters and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The £1.6 million project was funded by the UK Government as part of an ambitious cultural exchange programme with China. The exhibition will be presented at the National Library of China from 21 April 2017 to the 20 June 2017.
Memorandum of Understanding between the Palace Museum and Durham University
MoU between the Palace Museum and Durham University on furthering research links on the archaeology of the Middle East, Europe and Indian Ocean. This will include academic exchanges; joint research and publications; cooperation in museum exhibition management; and discussions into joint exhibitions.
Science and Innovation
Memorandum of Understanding on UK-China Research and Innovation between UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy and China’s Ministry of Science and Technology
An agreement to jointly develop a strategy for future UK-China science and innovation collaboration, which will identify key areas, new models and funding mechanisms for collaboration, and will have a greater focus on innovation, applied research and joint centres. The first roundtable meeting to discuss the strategy was held alongside the People to People Dialogue on the morning of 6th December with leading research and business representatives from both countries.
Healthcare
Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Health of the UK and the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China
The renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Department of Health of the UK and the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the People’s Republic of China on Health Cooperation signals the commitment of the two parties to continue their close collaboration on health. Both countries are facing the challenges of providing high quality healthcare to their people in the context of ageing populations, emerging infectious disease and the growing burden of non-communicable diseases. This relationship benefits both nations through sharing expertise and supporting joint projects. It commits both sides to holding an annual Ministerial dialogue on health, alternating between the two countries.
Memorandum of Understanding on the UK-China Antimicrobial Resistance Research and Innovation Collaboration between the Department of Health of the UK and the Ministry of Science and Technology of China
The objective of this MoU is to support joint collaboration in the translation of research into new solutions to address antimicrobial resistance. This could fund activities of joint research and innovation projects led by research organisations, higher education institutions, companies and enterprises within the two countries. The Chinese Government will provide matching funding to the UK Government’s commitment to respectively support researchers of the two countries to carry out these projects. Collaboration under this MoU will build on existing UK-China science, research and innovation agreements.
Education
UK-China Partners in Education Framework
An Action Plan under the UK-China Partners in Education Framework outlining six key priority areas of UK-China education co-operation beyond 2016. The six strands of collaboration are in basic education; language teaching and assessment; technical and professional education and training; sports education and training; higher education (including quality assurance) and exchanges.
Department for Education and Shanghai Municipal Education Commission agreement on Maths Teacher Exchange
Agreement for the extension of the Shanghai Math Teachers Exchange programme which will see up to 70 teachers from each country travel to Shanghai and UK each year for the next two academic years (from Nov 2016)
Sport
UK-China Football Coach Training Framework
The British Council, Premier League, The FA and the Federation of University Sports China signed a collaboration agreement to develop a UK-China Football Coach Training Framework which aims to deliver a development pathway for football coaches in China.
Olympics Memorandum of Understanding
Signing of a new Host-to-Host Memorandum of Understanding to take forward a programme of cooperation in relation to the Beijing Winter Olympics and Paralympics 2022
Youth
Great Britain China Centre and the All China Youth Federation
A Memorandum of Understanding between the Great Britain China Centre and the All China Youth Federation on promoting collaboration and exchange between the UK and China’s young innovators and entrepreneurs.
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