EU should drop trade barriers, Cameron tells China

Beijing (Alliance News) - British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday called for Europe to eliminate trade barriers, and offered Britain as an "ideal partner" for an expanding China.

Cameron said he opposed calls by some in Europe for more measures to protect its businesses against trade competition.

"Britain wants to tear those barriers down," he said after talks with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. "An open Britain is an ideal partner for an opening China."

Cameron said on Twitter that he told President Xi Jinping later Monday that "the rise of China would be a defining fact of the 21st century."

Before the talks, the British premier called for the EU to negotiate a free trade agreement with the world's second-largest economy.

In Brussels, Alexandre Polack, a spokesman for the European Commission, said: "We believe that it's premature at this stage to discuss a free trade agreement with China."

"We should first negotiate and conclude this ambitious investment agreement," Polack said of negotiations that were launched 10 days back. "This is our priority for the time being ... Completing such an agreement will send a strong signal of our joint commitment to stronger cooperation."

Li said China and Britain agreed to expand cooperation in areas including high-speed railways, nuclear power, development of new energy sources, aerospace and finance.

They discussed plans for offshore trading in China's renminbi currency in London and Chinese banks opening branches in Britain, while Britain agreed to increase high-technology exports to China, he said.

Cameron began his three-day trip, accompanied by what his office said was the largest British trade delegation ever to visit China, by opening a Jaguar Land Rover training academy in Beijing.

He witnessed the signing of an agreement worth some 4.5 billion pounds (7.4 billion dollars) for Jaguar Land Rover to provide 100,000 vehicles to China over the next year.

Analysts said Cameron had focussed on economic ties and toned down his rhetoric on human rights after having angered China by meeting the Dalai Lama in May 2012.

That meeting was a "move that interfered with China's internal affairs," the official Xinhua news agency said in a commentary.

Li was quoted as saying that Cameron on Monday "reaffirmed .

Source: Alliance News