China calls on Britain to earnestly promote "golden era relationship": FM

BRUSSELS, March 18 (Xinhua) -- CHINA hopes Britain will make earnest efforts to promote the "Golden era relationship" with CHINA and properly handle issues affecting the healthy development of bilateral relations, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Monday.

Wang made the remarks when briefly meeting with British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt on the sidelines of the ninth round of the CHINA-EU High-level Strategic Dialogue.

Recently, some high-level British officials have repeatedly expressed London's commitment to promoting its "Golden era relationship" with CHINA, Wang said, hoping that the British side would carry out the commitment with concrete actions to strengthen mutual understanding and trust.

Hunt said Britain views CHINA's development positively and is willing to see CHINA playing a bigger role in global affairs.

London stands ready to make joint efforts with Beijing to deepen the "Golden era relationship," said the foreign secretary, adding that some specific differences should not hinder the overall development of bilateral relations.