CHINESE NEW YEAR MESSAGE from PM David Cameron:

I would like to send my warmest wishes to everyone in the UK, China and around the world celebrating Chinese New Year.

Families will be coming together, often travelling many miles to celebrate the Spring Festival with fireworks, parades and feasts. From Birmingham to Beijing the celebrations will no doubt be spectacular.

At this joyous time we can reflect on the past 12 months and look forward with great excitement to the next. This Chinese New Year can be a truly golden one for Britain and China.

Last year I was delighted to welcome Premier Li to London for the highly successful UK-China Summit just six months after my visit to China, where I was proud to bring with me a large business delegation eager to further trade and business between our two nations. My visit to China – a country that was as welcoming as it is beautiful – remains a highlight of my time as Prime Minister and I shall never forget it.

Our economic relationship goes from strength to strength. Chinese culture, food, technology and clothing have long been a big part of our lives in Britain, but this is now working both ways with British goods, services and arts becoming firm favourites in China.

Great British names like Jaguar Land Rover, Burberry, Costa and Downton Abbey are establishing themselves as highly popular brands across Chinese towns and cities.

And while British engineers are helping bring specialist skills and expertise to help redevelop China we can also see Chinese investment helping to improve Britain too. Our infrastructure has been made stronger thanks to Chinese business people who invest here while our great universities have benefited from the tens of thousands of Chinese students who study here.

But most of all it is our country as a whole that is simply a better place thanks to our British Chinese communities and their long-standing and enduring contribution to society.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the British Chinese community for everything they have done for the United Kingdom. From the enormous contributions in culture, communities, businesses and public services you have enriched our country in so many ways.

So in this, the Year of the Sheep let us celebrate just how much British Chinese communities bring to this country.

So wherever you are, let me wish you the very best health and happiness.

Xin nian kuai le.
新年快乐。

David Cameron

Prime Minister