UK News

  据路透社伦敦20日报道，英国火车司机和司炉联合会称，英国15家火车公司的司机将于2023年1月5日罢工。此次罢工是目前因薪酬而引发的争端的一部分。 报道称，该工会说，罢工行动将使“受影响线路的服务中断”。在通胀和生活成本飙升的背景下，其他行业也因为要求提高薪酬而宣布举行波及面更广的罢工。 报道称，英国火车司机和司炉联合会今年已经举行过5次为期一天的罢工，并表示他们现在“获得了在未来6个月内采取抗议行动的授权”。 该联合会在一份声明中说：“阻止罢工的办法是企业提出一个严肃、理智的方案，政府不要从中作梗。”

  China's central bank on Nov 12 said that it has re-extended a bilateral currency swap scheme agreement with the Bank of England. The deal has a scale of 350 billion yuan (about $54.63 billion), or 40 billion pounds. It will be valid for five years and can be further extended with mutual consent, according to a statement from the People's Bank of China (PBOC). The PBOC said the extension would help deepen the monetary and financial cooperation between the two countries and safeguard financial stability. A currency swap sees two parties agree to exchange a certain amount of foreign currency at a pre-determined rate, protecting against fluctuations.

  Vice-Premier Hu Chunhua held a phone conversation on Dec 7 with British Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak on advancing bilateral practical cooperation. Hu, who leads the Chinese delegation to the China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue, noted that President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently held a phone conversation and reached important consensus on bolstering relations and strengthening cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese side stands ready to work with the British side to implement the consensus reached by the two leaders, and make new progress in practical cooperation, Hu said. Hu expects the two countries will meet each other halfway, strengthen exchanges and cooperation in trade, investment, finance and other areas, and continuously broaden and deepen their practical cooperation. Sunak, who leads the British delegation to the dialogue, said his country attaches great importance to relations with China, stands ready to deepen b...

  China moved up its ranking at the Global Innovation Index 2021 as technology played a significant role in the high-quality development of the nation's modernization drive last year. China ranked 12th in the index, up 22 places from ten years earlier, Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang said at the "Ministers' Corridor" after the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th National People's Congress (NPC) on March 8. Businesses have been playing an increasingly important role in innovation. In 2021, total R&D investment in China reached 2.79 trillion yuan (about $442 billion), a year-on-year increase of 14.2 percent, of which 76 percent came from enterprises. The turnover of technology contracts surpassed 3.7 trillion yuan last year, of which 90 percent came from enterprises, Wang shared. The minister said 79 percent of the country's National Key Research and Development Program was led or supported by enterprises playing leading r...

  China and Scotland enjoy enormous scope for cooperation in trade and economy, education, culture, green energy, infrastructure, agriculture and creative industries, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Zheng Zeguang has said. Over the past 50 years since the establishment of China-UK ambassadorial diplomatic relations, the two countries have seen fruitful cooperation in economy and trade, Zheng said in a speech at the China-Scotland Cooperation Forum held in Edinburgh, Scotland, on June 23. The Scottish economy is unique, and resources are abundant, Zheng added, noting that over the past two years, cooperation between the two sides has continued to grow, fully demonstrating its strong resilience. The business communities of both China and the UK should strengthen dialogue and expand mutually beneficial cooperation to push for growth, improve people's livelihood and help achieve sustainable development goals, the ambassador added. Also at the meeting, Fang Wenjian, chairman of the China ...

  The Port of Liverpool in northwestern England is dotted with cranes loading and unloading cargo at container terminals. The China Xpress service of the British company Allseas Global Logistics is working to ensure the flow of goods continues unabated between China and Britain. With the launch of a direct shipping route in April 2021, Allseas has recently provided service every 10 days from China to Britain and vice versa, with vessels capable of carrying 1,500 to 1,700 containers port to port from such Chinese cities as Shanghai and Ningbo to Liverpool in 30 days, according to the company. In just one year, the shipping route between Liverpool and Shanghai has developed from a short-term temporary arrangement to a long-term and fixed route, said Zheng Zeguang, Chinese ambassador to Britain, at a ceremony held on April 26 at the Port of Liverpool celebrating the first anniversary of China Xpress. "The fast growth fits the needs of trade between China and the UK against the pandem...

  A preferential tariff treatment for Chinese companies exporting products to 32 countries – including the 27 European Union (EU) members, the UK, Canada, Turkey, Ukraine and Liechtenstein – has come to an end, as the country's export products are becoming more competitive. China's General Administration of Customs from Dec 1 stopped issuing certificates of origin under the Generalized System of Preference (GSP) for exports to the 32 countries, which no longer offer China GSP status, marking the end of the preferential tariff scheme for Chinese exporters. The GSP system, used around the world, reduces levies on certain imports from developing countries and incentivizes exports from less developed economies, promoting economic growth. The system also helps to bring down the cost of import goods for donor economies. Limited impact on China's overall exports The move is seen by many as a natural development as China's products have become more competitive in global trade. ...

  Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Indonesia's Coordinator for Cooperation with China and Coordinating Minister Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan via video link on May 6, with the two sides agreeing to jointly safeguard peace and stability in East Asia. Under the strategic guidance of the two heads of state, China-Indonesia relations have withstood the test of the COVID-19 pandemic and injected positive energy into the anti-pandemic efforts and development of the region and the whole world, Wang said. Hailing the two countries as true friends and reliable partners, Wang said China is willing to work with Indonesia to deepen the new pattern of bilateral relations with "four-wheel drive" on political, economic, cultural and maritime cooperation, so as to better cope with various international challenges, and make greater contributions to world peace and development. China is willing to jointly deepen health cooperation with Indonesia in the post-pandemic ...