Chinese PM Li Keqiang meets British chancellor

Beijing: Chinese Premier Li Keqiang met with British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne on the sidelines of the seventh China-UK Economic and Financial Dialogue (EFD), the media reported on Tuesday.

China and Britain, both important countries with global influence, should strengthen economic and financial cooperation, which is important for financial stability and world economic recovery, said Li on Monday. 

He also suggested expanded cooperation on third-party markets.

Li briefed Osborne on the fluctuations of China`s stock markets in the past few months. The Chinese government has taken measures to stabilise the markets and guard against systemic risks, said Li.

He said the government will improve management of the market and promote openness, transparency, long-term stability and healthy development.

China is improving the central parity of exchange rate mechanism of the yuan to speed up the marketisation of the regime, said Li.

There is no reason for the yuan`s depreciation to be sustained, and China does not want a currency war, said the premier, appreciating that Britain was the first western country to issue a RMB sovereign bond.

Osborne said Britain is pleased to see strengthened cooperation between the two countries and is willing to expand mutual investments and major projects cooperation with China.

"We want Britain to be China`s best partner in the West," he said.

Chinese Vice Premier Ma Kai and Osborne co-chaired the dialogue on Monday in Beijing.