Britain's Ambassador to China Peter Wilson has outlined how the UK can explore new opportunities to take cooperation with China to "new levels" following a recent warming of ties between the two sides, highlighting the potential for collaboration in trade and in advancing the energy transition.
Wilson, who took up his position in the Chinese capital last August, recently attended China's "two sessions" political meetings in Beijing, where he gained key insights into the country's development trajectory and policy goals. The "two sessions" are a major event in China's political calendar, and refer to the annual sessions of the National Political Congress (NPC), the country's supreme organ of state power, and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the top political advisory body.
As an observer, the ambassador was invited to attend the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th NPC at the Great Hall of the People last Thursday, where Chinese Premier Li Qiang delivered a government work report which highlighted the country's major new achievements over the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025) and set out the major development targets for the next five-year planning period spanning 2026 to 2030.
Wilson said this offered him a precious opportunity to directly grasp China's new policies across various sectors for the coming years, which he said are of great significance to the entire world.
"For me, attending the 'two sessions' in person is very important, as I can directly hear about this year's economic growth target and some new policies, including those for diplomacy, for Chinese enterprises going global, for encouraging [the development of] the service sector and for boosting consumption. These will have implications for the whole world, including the UK. Therefore, I think it's a very precious opportunity to attend the meeting in person," said Wilson.
The government work report, which was submitted to the NPC for review during the opening meeting, stated that China will accelerate the green transition across the board and cut carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by a total of 17 percent in the 2026-2030 period.
Wilson noted China has a number of advantages in the field of green technologies, and said the UK has been committed to promoting energy conservation and emissions reduction alongside overall efforts to address climate change, meaning there is great potential for cooperation between the two countries in accelerating the green transition.
"[One important area is] on global climate change where I think we can set even higher standards for the world, because each of our countries is observing higher and higher standards domestically," he said.
Noting how the UK market is highly accessible for Chinese electric vehicles, Wilson said the two sides are engaging in active discussions regarding the establishment of standards to ensure they do not hinder trade.
"We have quite an active dialogue with China about setting standards and not allowing standards to be a barrier to trade. In areas like battery technology where China leads the world, in electric vehicles, the UK market is actually relatively open. The largest global market for BYD electric vehicles is the United Kingdom, outside China," said Wilson.
Ties between the UK and China were given a major boost by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer's four-day official visit to China back in January, which marked the first trip by a UK prime minister to China in eight years.
Starmer was accompanied by a large business delegation comprising senior executive from over 50 major British firms and representatives of British institutions across multiple sectors including finance, medicine, manufacturing, and the cultural and creative industries.
During this visit, the two countries signed more than 20 cooperative documents covering sectors such as the economy and trade, agricultural products and food, culture and market regulation.
Hailing the success of this breakthrough, Wilson said that the UK and China have already established a series of dialogue mechanisms that have laid the groundwork for comprehensively deepening cooperation between the two countries moving forward.
"We now have repositioned economic and financial dialogue. We have a joint economic and trade commission. We have a joint commission on science. We have deeper discussion on the environment and energy. All of those are ways to take our cooperation to new levels," he said.
UK aims to take cooperation with China to "new levels": British ambassador
China is aiming to transition its ambitious space program from a strategic goal into a core economic driver, with the country vowing to integrate the advances of its aerospace technology into everyday life, from broader satellite internet coverage to even offering affordable commercial space travel.
China's recently unveiled 2026 government work report has officially designated aerospace as a "new pillar industry" for the first time, elevating it from a "strategic emerging industry" to a status akin to high-speed rail and 5G technology, highlighting how integral and well developed the sector has become.
The report was delivered by Chinese Premier Li Qiang last Thursday during the opening meeting of the fourth session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, part of China's annual "two sessions" political meetings, which also includes the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body.
The upgraded status of the aerospace sector outlined in the government work report signals the country's intent to turn its lunar dreams and orbital infrastructure into tangible economic benefits that can reshape people's daily lives.
China has already made remarkable progress in recent years through its space exploration endeavors, with the Tiangong space station becoming fully operational and occupied by a continuous rotation of astronaut crews in orbit, the Chang'e 6 mission retrieving mankind's first ever lunar samples from the far side of the moon, and a rover being successfully touching down on the surface of the Mars.
Now China's most eye-catching immediate goal is to land astronauts on the moon by 2030, with a long-term vision of building a lunar base. The mission aims to conduct scientific surveys and technology tests on the lunar surface, while also serving as a platform for enhanced crewed exploration capabilities. The broader goal sees the moon being envisioned as a future transit station for launching deeper space travel, making science-fiction dreams a reality.
Currently, the development of key equipment for undertaking this mammoth mission such as the Long March-10 carrier rocket, the Mengzhou spacecraft, and the Lanyue lander, is progressing smoothly, with multiple large-scale tests already completed. The construction of related facilities at the Wenchang Space Launch Site on south China's island province of Hainan is also being vigorously advanced.
While China is setting its sights on the stars, it is also looking to bring the benefits of its outer space developments back to those on Earth. The country is accelerating the construction of a "satellite internet constellation" in low Earth orbit to achieve global coverage -- a key priority specifically highlighted in the government work report.
Currently, constellation projects represented by the Guowang, or national network, and the Qianfan, also known as the SpaceSail constellation, have entered an intensive deployment phase. These initiatives are driving collaborative innovation across the entire industrial chain, including in developing new materials, precision manufacturing, electronic information, and data applications, unleashing a powerful "chain-driven" effect.
Once the satellite internet system is complete, ordinary mobile phone users will be able to connect directly to satellites, even when in areas which now suffer from poor coverage, making the concept of "never losing signal" a potentially standard feature. Autonomous driving positioning will become more precise, and in the event of ground network disruptions caused by natural disasters, the satellite network could serve as a critical lifeline.
Meanwhile, the advances made in re-usable rocket technology could soon make the once far-fetched notion of regular space travel a viable commercial concept. Historically, rocket launches were prohibitively expensive "customized charter" flights, but breakthroughs in reusable rocket technology are drastically cutting costs, as some note the era of the "space shuttle bus" is now approaching.
The latest generation Long March-10 rocket recently completed a key low-altitude verification test flight, successfully executing a controlled splashdown at sea, representing substantial progress in work to implement reusable launch systems.
Domestic commercial space companies have already begun pre-selling tickets for suborbital flights and have signed contracts with several enthusiastic space tourists, showcasing that a "ticket to the stars" could one day become accessible to members of the public.
Several NPC deputies and political advisors have noted during the "two sessions" meetings in Beijing that China's space sector is moving from technological imitation to independent leadership, with some innovations having ventured into "uncharted territory."
As a newly-designated national pillar industry, China's aerospace sector is leading the way towards a future of seamless connectivity and may even offer the ultimate round-trip experience to space.
China's space ambitions to become core economic driver with seamless connectivity, commercial space travel
