they can protect their markets from china
or open their markets to china.
they can try and shut china out
or welcome china in, to a new place at the top table of global affairs.
there has been a change of government in britain and a change of prime minister.
but on this vital point there is absolute continuity between my government and the governments of tony blair and gordon brown.
we want a strong relationship with china. strong on trade. strong on investment. strong on dialogue.
i made that clear as leader of the opposition when i visited beijing and chongqing three years ago.
and i repeat it as prime minister here in china’s capital today.
in the argument about how to react to the rise of china.
i say it’s an opportunity.
i choose engagement not disengagement.
dialogue not stand-off.
mutual benefit, not zero-sum game.
partnership not protectionism.
britain is the country that argues most passionately for globalisation and free trade.
free trade is in our dna.
and we want trade with china. as much of it as we can get.
that’s why i have with me on this visit one of the biggest and most high-powered delegations a british prime minister has ever led to china.
just think about some of the prizes that the rise of china could help to bring within our grasp.
strong, and sustainable growth for the global economy.
vital progress on the doha trade round which could add $170 billion to the global economy.
a real chance to get back on track towards a legally binding deal on emissions
unprecedented progress in tackling poverty.
china has lifted 500 million people out of poverty in just thirty years.
although there is still a long way to go – that’s more people lifted out of poverty than at any time in human history.
you can see the results right across this enormous country.
when i worked in hong kong briefly in 1985, shenzhen was barely more than a small town, surrounded by paddy fields and waterways.
today it is a city larger than london. it makes most of the world’s ipods and one in ten of its mobile phones.
and there are other benefits too in tackling the world’s most intractable problems.
i welcome the fact, for example, that more than 900 chinese doctors now work in african countries and that in uganda it is a chinese pharmaceutical firm that is introducing a new anti-malarial drug.
so i want to make the positive case
for the world to see china’s rise as an opportunity not a threat.
but china needs to help us to make that argument
to demonstrate that as your economy grows, so do our shared interests, and our shared responsibilities.