President Xi Jinping held a phone conversation with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Friday, saying that Beijing attaches great importance to London's readiness to strengthen engagements and dialogue.

China is willing to maintain exchanges with the United Kingdom at all levels, promote the stable and far-reaching development of China-UK relations, and make joint efforts to promote world peace and development, Xi said.

This was Starmer's first conversation with the Chinese president since he took office as prime minister last month.

Xi congratulated Starmer on assuming the post of British prime minister.

He pointed out that the current international situation is fraught with changes and turmoil. China and the UK, both as permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and major economies in the world, "should take a long-term and strategic view of bilateral ties", he said.

Xi said the two countries should keep defining each other as partners, strengthen dialogue and cooperation, and "benefit both countries and the world through a stable and mutually beneficial China-UK relationship".

Starmer congratulated the Chinese delegation on its excellent achievements at the Olympic Games in Paris.

The UK looks to enhance engagement and dialogue with China at all levels and in various fields, and to promote pragmatic cooperation and institutional exchanges between the two countries to achieve positive results, he said.

Starmer stressed the UK's readiness to develop long-term, stable bilateral relations of strategic significance in the spirit of mutual respect.

The UK is willing to maintain communication with China on major international and regional issues and contribute to maintaining world security and stability, he added.

Starmer reiterated that there is no change of position in the UK's long-term commitment to the one-China policy.

As part of the most recent high-level contacts between Beijing and London, Premier Li Qiang sent a congratulatory message to Starmer last month on his assuming the post of prime minister, and Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy in the Lao capital Vientiane later last month.

Chinese Ambassador to the UK Zheng Zeguang said recently that "the 52 years of diplomatic relations between China and the UK prove that cooperation serves both sides and the world", and he welcomed the British government's intention to strengthen engagement with China at all levels.

"The right approach to China-UK relations is respecting each other, focusing on cooperation, managing differences and facing challenges together. Our two countries can work together for the common good," he said at a reception for the British business community last month.

While asking the UK to look at China in an objective and rational manner, Xi said on Friday that China is committed to pursuing the building of a strong nation and national rejuvenation in a comprehensive manner by means of the Chinese path to modernization, and it sticks to the path of peaceful development.

The British prime minister said the development of a closer UK-China partnership is in the long-term interests of both countries.

zhangyunbi@chinadaily.com.cn