British Prime Minister Gordon Brown arrives in Beijing on Friday.
The three-day visit will be Brown's maiden trip to China since taking office as prime minister last June and underscores growing economic ties and mutual strategic trust between the two countries.
Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said yesterday that China attaches great importance to the visit and believes it will inject new vitality to the development of a strategic Sino-British partnership.
Brown is scheduled to meet with the Chinese leadership, including talks with Premier Wen Jiabao, during his stay in the capital.
The two prime ministers will hold a joint press conference, meet business leaders and hold talks with representatives of the general public.
The British guest is also scheduled to visit Olympic sites before moving to Shanghai.
According to Jiang, fruitful cooperation in financial services, education, health, the environment and Olympic-related projects are likely to push the volume of bilateral trade to more than $40 billion this year.
The spokeswoman said the enhancement of relations between the two countries, which are both permanent members of the UN Security Council, not only conforms to the interest of the two peoples but is also conducive to world peace, stability and prosperity.
Fu Ying, Chinese ambassador to the UK, said business relations will top the agenda of Brown's visit and that she was looking forward to hearing the leaders' views and ideas on how to advance bilateral trade and economic ties.
The Chinese ambassador also said bright prospects existed for the two countries to expand service trade and financial cooperation.
Fu noted that as an international financial center, London enjoyed strong advantages in terms of finance and fund management. More and more Chinese companies are moving to invest and list in the UK and she believes that the momentum will continue.
Reports quoted diplomatic sources as saying China would welcome British capital and expertise to help it restructure its service sector and that there was potential during Brown's visit to expand technical cooperation on clean energy projects.
Questions:
1. On what day is the British PM Gordon Brown expected to arrive in China?
2. How many months has Gordon Brown been Prime Minister?
3. List two activities that the British PM will undertake while in China?
4. In terms of business what two areas were mentioned by the Chinese Ambassador in London which hold bright prospects for the two countries?
Answers:
1.This Friday.
2.8 months.
3.Visit his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao and visit the Olympic Center.
4.The expansion of service trade and financial cooperation.
（英语点津 Celene 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Brendan is an Australian who has been involved in education and writing for over a decade. He has published most recently for the Tiger Airways Inflight magazine, The Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times and Japan's Hiroshima Outside Magazine. He holds a Masters Degree in Community Development and Management and has resided in China for over 3 years.
