On the morning of January 18, 2008, Premier Wen Jiabao of the State Council held talks with visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

Wen told Brown, "You come to China amid the snow. There is an old saying in China that 'Plentiful year of winter snow trillion'. Your visit indicates a new beginning and greater development of China-Britain relations in the new year."

Brown extended congratulations on the huge economic achievements the Chinese government had made and wishes on the success of the Beijing Olympic Games. The Britain-China strategic dialogue has achieved remarkable progress and the bilateral cooperation on the economic, financial and other issues has important influence on the global economy and international community. The all-round strategic partnership between the two countries in various fields including economy, finance, science and technology, culture and art, education and human rights moves forward steadily, said he.

Following the talks, Wen and Brown will jointly attend the signing ceremony of related cooperation documents, meet the press and address the China-Britain business summit.

Prior to the talks, Wen held a welcome ceremony for Brown at the north hall of the Great Hall of the People. Chairwoman of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League Lin Wenyi, Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, Minister of National Development and Reform Commission Ma Kai, Minister of Education Zhou Ji, Minister of Commerce Chen Deming and Chinese ambassador to Britain Fu Ying were also present at the ceremony.

On the afternoon, President Hu Jintao and Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress Wu Bangguo will meet with Brown respectively. Brown will meet the public representatives, watch the exhibition match of Chinese and British table tennis players and talk with the players together with Premier Wen Jiabao.

The British delegation led by Prime Minister Brown arrived at Beijing on the morning of January 18, kicking off the three-day formal visit to China. It is the first time for Brown to visit China since he took office in June 2007. Mrs. Sarah Brown, the British Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, several advisors to the Prime Minister and more than 30 entrepreneurs accompanied Brown during the visit.