Senior CPC official visits Britain

LONDON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Liu Jianchao, head of the International Department of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, led a CPC delegation to attend the 11th China-UK Leadership Forum held here on Tuesday.

During his stay in Britain from Monday to Thursday, Liu met and exchanged views with former British Prime Ministers Tony Blair and David Cameron, British Prime Minister's National Security Adviser Tim Barrow, and Anne-Marie Trevelyan, minister of state in the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. Liu also delivered a speech at the Royal Institute of International Affairs.

The two sides agreed that maintaining a sound relationship between China and Britain, both major countries with important international influence, serves the common interests of the two peoples.

The two sides should strengthen exchanges between political parties, governments and think tanks as well as people-to-people exchanges and those at the subnational level, deepen cooperation, manage differences and enhance mutual understanding so as to promote the sound and steady development of bilateral relations and jointly cope with global challenges, they said.