British and Chinese premiers call for strengthened bilateral trade

Anchor: Visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has had a fruitful day in London, inking multi-billion-dollar deals and pledging further cooperation with his British counterpart, David Cameron. The two sides have signed trade and investment deals worth over 30 billion dollars, covering areas in finance, technology, education, energy and infrastructure. Both sides have also set a goal of expanding bilateral trade to 100 billion U.S. dollars by 2015. CRI's Yu Yang has more. Reporter: As part of his time in the UK, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has met with British Prime Minister David Cameron. The two have overseen the signing of trade deals worth billions. Li Keqiang has also used the meeting to call for more cooperation in areas such as nuclear power, high-speed rail, infrastructure construction and urbanization. "The UK has advanced technology that can be married with China's vast markets. Together we can create huge energy." He also says the two countries need to increase their financial cooperation. Li Keqiang says this should include facilitating the direct trade of the renminbi and the British pound, as well as setting up an RMB clearing bank and opening branches of Chinese banks in Britain. For his part, British Prime Minister David Cameron says his country can act as a facilitator to help China gain a stronger foot-hold in Europe. "As members of the European Union, we have been pushing very hard for the European Union to start work on a free-trade agreement with China. That was very much something Britain put on the table before any other country. We're a big supporter of free trade. We believe that can unlock growth, investment and jobs for people in China and for people in Britain. And we think that's been a very important push for the British to make." Cameron also says Britain welcomes more Chinese investment in Britain, as well as more Chinese students studying in the UK. This year marks the 10th anniversary of China and the UK signing a comprehensive strategic partnership agreement. For CRI, this is Yu Yang.