Former UK Chancellor George Osborne has praised Boris Johnson for attempting to build a positive relationship with China and avoiding a "Cold War" with the global power.

On Tuesday, Johnson said China poses a "great challenge" for an "open society such as the UK's" but also stressed his desire to build a "stronger and more positive economic relationship" with the country.

Johnson added that it was imperative China worked with the UK on other areas of shared interest, such as climate change, biodiversity and pandemic preparedness.

In recent months, the UK has sharply criticised criticized China's actions in Hong Kong and alleged treatment of Uyghur Muslims in Xinjiang and also banned the use of Huawei technology in its 5G network over national security concerns.

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Despite those areas of conflict, Osborne, who sought to build bridges with China during his time as chancellor and talked of a "golden era" in UK-China relations, said Johnson is right to pursue open and honest dialogue, rather than adopting hostile tactics that could risk more serious conflict in the future.

Addressing the House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee on Wednesday, he said: "China is changing, becoming more assertive, but the question of how you deal with it has not changed."

Here are Osborne's key points:

Johnson avoiding a 'Cold War'

"China is the largest economy, a sixth of the world's population is there, it's not going anywhere, so what do you do about its rise? That question hung over the world in 2013 and it does today. I think China is changing and becoming more assertive. Boris Johnson should be congratulated for not pursuing a new Cold War and wants to engage in the opportunity to engage in trade while also acknowledging its problems, but doesn't seek to confront China."

Chinese investment in the UK economy 

"Chinese investment in northern cities has been very successful. I don't think that compromised our national security, far from it, by increasing economic strength and growth outside of the south east of England it makes you a more robust country. There are constant challenges that need to be overcome – for example, equivalent market access to China and therefore there is even more reason to engage with China."

The world needing China's influence

"We need to deal with China as it is today. It's authoritarian, powerful and we need to co-opt it into a world order. Without its participation the world doesn't work – the IMF, UN, World Health Organization, China must be part of all of these organizations. We need a global, coordinated approach to lots of things, the pandemic being one of them. If you engage with China you have leverage over things like Xinjiang. China will care more about the views of countries it has relations with and that's the approach this government is pursuing."

China hasn't yet responded to Osborne's comments but earlier this week a spokesman for the Chinese embassy in the UK released a statement after UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab reiterated his concerns over China's involvement in Hong Kong.

The statement said: "China strongly opposes any external interference. Hong Kong is a special administrative region of China. How to design and improve its electoral system is purely China's internal affair and brooks no external interference."