Chinese President Xi Jinping gave a warm welcome to Prince William today as he began the first visit to the mainland by a member of the British royal family in almost three decades, setting aside the rancour with London over Hong Kong.
Prince William's trip to China is the first since Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, paid a visit in 1986, and follows some sparring between London and Beijing over last year's pro-democracy demonstrations in the former British colony of Hong Kong.
Meeting in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People, Prince William handed over an official invite from the Queen for Xi make a state visit to Britain. Xi is expected go to London later this year for a visit that could include a stay at Buckingham Palace.
"The British royal family has great influence not just in Britain but across the world," Xi told William, having asked first about his wife and the new child they are expecting.
"Over many years the British royal family has shown interest in and support for the China-Britain relationship and members of the royal family have done a lot and positively contributed to exchanges and cooperation between our two countries," he added.
"It's been a long interest of mine for many years to come and visit China," William said.
William is not being accompanied by wife Kate, who is due to give birth to the couple's second child in April.
Despite London and Beijing arguing of late about Hong Kong, many aspects of Britain are regarded positively in China.
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