Hospitality creates trip to remember

Britain's Queen Elizabeth and Chinese President Xi Jinping are driven by carriage along The Mall to Buckingham Palace in London Oct 20, 2015.[Photo/China Daily]

Visit showed the 'great intimacy' that now exists between the two countries

President Xi Jinping left Manchester on Friday, wrapping up the first visit of a Chinese state head to Britain in a decade.

Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters at the end of the visit that the trip has "repositioned" ties between China and Britain.

He also cited an editorial in the Financial Times that said the trip shows Britain has fundamentally reoriented its relations with major countries.

The visit, which was hailed as having opened a "golden era" in the key relationship, will be remembered for the impressive hospitality from the British royal family, the huge deals that were reached and a detailed plan to forge future ties that will glow over time, experts have said.

In describing the highest-level reception from the royal family, media in the UK have used such words as "most grand" and "private and sincere".

The royal family made an all-out effort on Tuesday to show Xi the full range of British-style hospitality, including the rare arrangement of frequent meetings with family members in one day.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, bid farewell to Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh at Buckingham Palace on Thursday before heading for Manchester. Xi said the visit gave him a "deep and beautiful impression".

"All the details, from the 103-gun salute to the group appearance of the royal family, including the 89-year-old queen, reflect the great intimacy of the two countries," said Cui Hongjian, head of the European Division at the China Institute of International Studies.

The trip witnessed the signing of deals worth almost 40 billion pounds ($62 billion), including an agreement to build a British nuclear power plant in southwestern England.