Xi says goodbye to queen, set for talks with Cameron

Chinese President Xi Jinping is escorted as he inspects a guard of honor during the official welcome ceremony at Horse Guards Parade in London

British Prime Minister David Cameron planned to discuss the fight against extremism with Chinese President Xi Jinping yesterday on a state visit hailed as a landmark by both China and Britain.
Xi and his wife said goodbye to Queen Elizabeth II after spending two nights as the monarch’s guest at Buckingham Palace. Xi will dine at Cameron’s country estate, Chequers, before visiting the northwest England city of Manchester to end his four-day trip.
Cameron’s office said yesterday’s talks would focus on international affairs and how China can help battle extremism.
Western governments are keenly interested in China’s response to the war in Syria. China joined Russia to block a series of Western resolutions at the United Nations against Bashar Assad’s government. Russia has stepped up a military intervention in Syria that it says targets the Islamic State group but that Britain and others say seeks to prop up Assad.
Xi has been greeted with elaborate British pomp and lavish ceremony on the state visit, the first by a Chinese leader to Britain in a decade.
The two countries signed more than 30 billion pounds (USD46 billion) in trade agreements — including a contentious nuclear power deal — as Cameron said Britain sought to be China’s “partner of choice” in the West.
There have also been protests by human rights activists and pro-Tibet groups, and opposition politicians have urged Cameron to press Xi on China’s rights record.
The trip has dominated state media in China, where the Communist Party newspaper Global Times said “the Sino-U.K. relationship will expect the harvest of the ‘golden era.’”
It’s a marked change in tone from Cameron’s trip to China in December 2013, when the Global Times said Britain was an old country, “easily replaceable in China’s European foreign policy.” AP

uk eases visa requirements for chinese visitors

Britain has used the state visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping as an occasion to ease visa requirements for other Chinese visitors. Prime Minister David Cameron’s office said Wednesday that standard visitor visas will be extended from six months to two years as part of the government’s plan to strengthen ties with China. Plans for a new 10-year multiple entry visa were also announced. The extended visa will be introduced in January. Officials say Chinese tourists contribute 500 million pounds (USD772 million) to Britain’s economy each year. London tourism officials said the new rules should deliver a boost to tourism.