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FEATURE STORY: A Tale of Two Crucial State Visits
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A Tale of Two Crucial State Visits

By Tracy Hall

BT 201512 060 02 Feature Story 002As a consequence of China'€™s growing economic and geopolitical clout, the country'€™s leaders are expected to engage with their counterparts around the world more than ever before. Since President Xi Jinping took office in March 2013, we have seen a more profound push for China to forge solid bilateral and multinational agreements with its international partners. These include working together on trade arrangements, intellectual property rights, monetary policies, foreign investments, military and cyber security and a whole range of other critical issues. This year the nation'€™s most high ranking political figures have been particularly active on the world stage. President Xi has taken the lead when it comes to jetting off around the world to bolster China'€™s diplomatic relations with its key trading partners.


It goes without saying that the most important objective for China on the world stage is to maintain its turbulent, but invaluable relationship with the United States. As promised, President Xi made his much anticipated return to the U.S. in September. Though the Chinese leader is certainly no stranger to the States -- having lived in Iowa during his early adulthood and later visiting as the country'€™s vice president -- this was to be his first time on American soil since he took top office.


During his short stay he was kept very busy indeed. Naturally, the visit involved lengthy discussions with President Obama on sticky issues that are of concern to both parties such as economic policy and climate change. But, without a doubt, cyber security was the most prominent theme for the media. During a joint press conference outside the White House, both presidents made it clear that they had engaged in lengthy discussions about how best to deal with the ongoing threats posed by so-called '€˜cyber terrorists'€™. Whilst it seemed to be a very cordial meeting between the two leaders -- with both sides painting a very optimistic future about the '€˜Chimerica'€™ relationship going forward -- one couldn'€™t help but feel that there was still a lot of suspicion and mistrust floating around Washington. And for all the talk of closer cooperation on key security issues, the subsequent tension, that the U.S. naval presence in the South China Sea caused, shows there is still a lot of work to be done.


However, the Chinese president began his state visit on the West Coast, and he really did his country proud by giving a rousing speech in the business hub of Seattle. During a round-table conference there, Mr. Xi also met some of the world'€™s most prominent business leaders, reaffirming with them that China is still thriving, competitive and very much open for business. Never before has a Chinese leader taken part in such an event, and the Seattle stop-off was considered a very worthwhile endeavour. As The Telegraph'€™s William Faxton pointed out, '€œBy promising to crack down on China's huge underworld of counterfeit goods, Xi has certainly got the attention of the American tech elite'€.


BT 201512 060 05 Feature Story 006Then, in late October -- only a month after his landmark state visit to the U.S. -- it was back to official overseas state business for the ultra-busy Chinese president and his incredibly supportive First Lady. Although it involved an equally long flight, this time the country'€™s leading couple were heading in the opposite direction to meet with political elites and business leaders in a global superpower of yesteryear. Right from the outset, it was clear that the President Xi'€™s visit to the United Kingdom was going to be incredibly important for both nations. For a start, the British media '€“ which is notorious for its no-holds-barred approach to reporting on anything from political meetings to celebrities'€™ private lives '€“ gave an incredible amount of positive coverage to the Chinese leader'€™s visit.


From the outset and throughout, President Xi and his entourage were given the royal treatment. The dinners and discussions between the Chinese delegation and royal family got things off to a good start. Although it was barely talked about at the time, the affirmation of friendship between the British royalty and the Chinese leadership served an important diplomatic purpose in that it symbolised a moving-on of sorts from the two country'€™s troubled imperial-era relations.


After months of talking about big deals and a tightening of bilateral ties between Britain and China, it was time for the UK Prime Minister David Cameron and his cabinet colleagues to seize the opportunity. As had been the case a month early, during President Xi'€™s visit to America, issues like climate change, cyber security and the global economy were big talking points. One of the first things to come out of these face-to-face meetings between the two leaders was the signing of a ground-breaking cyber security pact. Amongst other things, both sides put into writing that they would immediately condemn any use of cyber espionage techniques to steal either commercial or military secrets from the other side.


BT 201512 060 04 Feature Story 006When all the fancy royal banquets and the diplomatic discussions were out of the way, it was, quite literally, time to get down to business. Accompanying the Chinese President was a sizable group of Big Business leaders from some of the Middle Kingdom'€™s most investment-hungry firms. The signing of the long-awaited nuclear energy investment deal was the most significant of the visit. The US$ 9 billion splurge by a Chinese nuclear consortium is the biggest foreign investment in a single industrial project in British history. But while it is a staggering amount of money, this latest trade deal is part of a longer-standing trend of Chinese money flowing into the United Kingdom. The current round of investments by Chinese companies -- many of which were cemented during President Xi'€™s state visit in October -- is estimated to total more than 40 billion GBP when all of the transactions are completed. As a result, Britain is now the largest investment hub for China. Despite their differences on key issues, both sides now have every reason to be optimistic about their future economic and political relationship.


But, of course, there is always more to be done. China still has a lot of work to do on the world stage, while the international community also needs to play its part by helping this new global superpower find its feet. State visits, like the ones Chinese President Xi Jinping embarked on in 2015, are an essential part of that. There will always be differences of opinion and big sticking points between powerful nations, regardless of how much dialogue there is between both sides. However, these recent trips go to show that a lot can be achieved if our leaders make the effort to visit each other in person.


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