On January 31st, British Prime Minister Theresa May arrived in Central China's Hubei province, and chose Wuhan University as the first stop of her three-day official visit to China.
At 10:00 am, Theresa May met with the secretary of Hubei Provincial Party Committee at the reception hall of Wuhan University’s History Museum. Representatives present included British ambassador to China Barbara Woodward, Chinese Ambassador to Britain Liu Xiaoming, the Party Secretary of Wuhan University Han Jin and other leaders from China and UK’s political and business circle.
The Prime Minister began her tour in Wuhan University by attending the British Education and Cultural Exchange Exhibition of Hubei Province themed “Spirit of Youth” held in the Old Library. Maggie Jiang, the “spirit of youth” ambassador and Chinese actress, served as the escort.

British Prime Minister Theresa May( center) attends the exhibition with Maggie Jiang (center R) [Photo/VCG]

During this visit, Secretary Han Jin introduced to Theresa May the schooling history of Wuhan University and its exchanges with British universities. Han demonstrated three scripts that bearing Wuhan University’s long and profound history. The first one was a memorial submitted to Emperor Guangxu in Qing Dynasty by the Governor-general Zhang Zhidong. He proposed on the establishment of an educational institution named “Ziqiang Institute”, which was considered to be the origin of Wuhan University. The other ones were the letters sent by Oxford University at 1945 and 1948, confirming that bachelors of Art or Science graduated from seven prestigious Chinese Universities including Wuhan University with an average score of 80 plus could enjoy the “senior status” of Oxford University as well. Upon hearing the name of Alma Mater, the Prime Minister nodded with a smile and then was introduced WHU’s continuous culture exchanges with universities in UK. She also extended kind regards and warm handshakes with the students in Wuhan University and took an intimate interaction with youngsters from other schools in Wuhan.

Theresa May is visiting the booth of Wuhan University accompanied by Secretary Han Jin(R)
（Photo/ Li Xiaokun）

This exhibition also witnessed the launching of the "English is GREAT" campaign, which aims to support and encourage more people across China to learn to speak English. At the launching ceremony, Theresa May mentioned that UK-China relation has entered a golden year and the bonds of friendship between two peoples should be brought forward in the future. Meanwhile, Theresa May addressed her expectation to students present, “I say to the young people here, you will be the future leaders of your country, and I hope that in future years you will continue to strengthen the ties between the United Kingdom and China.”

Theresa May is delivering a speech. (Photo/chinadaily.com.cn)

It is reported that Theresa May’s visit is of vital significance to the promotion of the China-Britain relations in the new era. After her visit to Wuhan, Theresa May also toured to Beijing and Shanghai to exchange opinions on bilateral ties and some other issues of common interests.

Edited by Hu Sijia