In a recent interview with Xinhua, Zha said Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's upcoming visit to Britain is expected to promote mutual understanding and further strengthen the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

The leaders of China and Britain have exchanged regular and frequent visits since last year, which have greatly enhanced the political mutual trust and deepened the comprehensive strategic partnership, said Zha.

"Only in the second half of 2005, Chinese President Hu Jintao met British Prime Minister Tony Blair four times in Scotland, Beijing, London and New York," he said.

China and Britain have witnessed remarkable achievements in their cooperation of trade, investment, finance, energy, science, technology, education, culture, environment and sustainable development, Zha said.

In 2005, bilateral trade volume reached 24.5 billion U.S. dollars, 24 percent up over the previous year. The trade volume in the first half of this year grew by 21 percent over the corresponding period of last year.

Dynamic mutual investment between the two countries is becoming more active, he said, noting Britain is China's largest investor among the European countries. Many Chinese companies have established subsidiaries or agencies in Britain.

In such field as education, China and Britain have reached an agreement on a joint high-level personnel training program, said the ambassador.

The two countries also have agreed to establish Confucius academies in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Manchester, he said, noting the first "Business Confucius Academy" in the world is to be established in London for teaching high-level managers of British companies business Chinese and Chinese culture.

Zha said the British public have shown an increasing interest in China over the past years, which was best demonstrated by the Chinese Spring Festival celebrations held early this year in London as it drew some 200,000 spectators at the Trafalgar Square.

"During the first five months of this year, I was invited to give more than 20 speeches on China at various public occasions," said Zha, noting his experience showed that the British public are eager to know China.

"Now, it has become a new fashion to learn Chinese and Chinese culture, " he said.

China and Britain, with different social systems, ideologies, cultures and histories, are at different stages of development, the ambassador said, thus it is inevitable that the two countries have different opinions toward certain issues.

But after all, common grounds far exceed differences, he said, noting "bilateral ties could definitely become stronger and stronger."

The two sides should respect each other, learn from each other and promote cooperation through mutual exchanges, he suggested.