China's ambassador to the UK, Liu Xiaoming, has said strengthening ties with UK businesses will be a priority as the country looks to build new partnerships as part of its economic response to the pandemic.

Liu delivered a recorded speech at the start of the third China-UK economic and trade forum on Wednesday, in which he highlighted three of his country's major economic priorities: To strengthen worldwide confidence in economic globalization; to engender confidence in China's open development as it rebounds from the pandemic; and to foster even greater business cooperation between the UK and China.

Liu began by addressing the current global economic crisis resulting from the ongoing fight against the pandemic. "How do we find opportunities in crisis? The answer lies in a Chinese saying 'confidence is more precious than gold,'" he said. 

The ambassador added: "We should strengthen confidence in UK-China business cooperation. In 2019, the trade volume between the UK and China hit a new record. In the first 10 months of this year, trade in goods between the two countries increased by 2.8 percent year-on-year, faster than the growth rate of China's overall foreign trade in the same period. 

"I am pleased to see that the UK's business community remains optimistic about China's development to deepening cooperation with China. UK businesses signed contracts worth 430 million pounds [$574m] at the recent Third China International Import Expo.

"In the past 12 months, three companies that are leaders in their respective industries have been listed on the London stock exchange through the Shanghai-London Stock Connect."

Liu also highlighted the countries' shared focus on environmental issues, with the two powers next year hosting the COP25 and COP26 summits, respectively. 

"Our two countries are having close consultations to build up synergy between the two conferences," he said. "China is committed to the path of green development and protection of the ecological environment, and demonstrated considerable strength in clean energy such as nuclear and solar energy. The UK has special strength in green finance and low-carbon technology."

The ambassador added: "Business communities from China and the UK should seize the opportunities to expand cooperation in green finance, green technology and clean energy, and to be the standard bearers in global green recovery and governance on climate change."

The Chairman of China's Chamber of Commerce in the UK, Fang Wenjian, also delivered a rousing speech, during which he hailed the success and the potential of the trading relationship between the two nations.

"We have some confidence in saying that we are actually still enjoying the best period in our relationship. Chinese investment in the UK has increased 20 times in the past 10 years, which has never happened before in history and it is still increasing," he said. 

"In the first eight months of the year alone, British exports to China rose nearly 10 percent. These facts are really encouraging. It is our responsibility to work together to keep this momentum going."

Video editor: Steve Chappell & Murray Job