On October 19 local time, President Xi Jinping arrived in London, the capital of the UK, starting his state visit to the country.

At about 8:00 pm local time, Xi Jinping's special plane touched down at the Heathrow Airport in London. Xi Jinping and Mme. Peng Liyuan were warmly greeted by Viscount Hood on behalf of the Queen, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Philip Hammond and others at the airport. Local youth presented a bunch of flowers to Xi Jinping and his wife.

Xi Jinping extended sincere greetings and best wishes to the UK government and people. He pointed out that both China and the UK enjoy time-honored history and glorious cultures and have made unique contributions to the development of human civilization. As permanent members of the UN Security Council and countries with major influence in the world, China and the UK share common interests and solemn responsibilities in safeguarding world peace and promoting common development. This year marks the start of the second decade of the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries. Deepening bilateral relations not only accords with the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples but also conforms with the development trend of the times. I look forward to having an in-depth exchange of views with UK leaders on bilateral relations and major international and regional issues and meeting people from all sectors of the UK so as to jointly draw a grand blueprint for bilateral cooperation, better benefit both peoples with the development of bilateral relations and make new contributions to world peace, stability and prosperity.

Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and other delegation members arrived by the same plane.

H.E. Liu Xiaoming, Chinese Ambassador to the UK, also greeted them at the airport.

London is the first stop of Xi Jinping's UK visit. Afterwards, He will continue his visit in Manchester.