On October 20 local time, while addressing the UK Parliament, President Xi Jinping underlined that since the founding of the People's Republic of China (PRC), the two countries have made numerous "firsts" in bilateral relations.

The UK was the first major Western country to recognize the PRC and also took the lead among European Union (EU) members to establish a comprehensive strategic partnership with China. It is also the largest offshore RMB trading center after Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and hosts more Chinese overseas students and Confucius Institutes than any other EU country. Besides, the UK was the first Western country to issue RMB sovereign bonds and the first major Western country to apply full membership of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). China and the UK are increasingly becoming an interdependent community of shared interests.