南方财经全媒体记者 施诗、杨雨莱 北京、广州报道

At the China Development Forum 2025, Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles, the Chair of China-Britain Business Council conducted an interview with SFC journalist. He noted that the air in Beijing today is cleaner than the air in London, benefiting Chinese people and visitors like him since China has done a lot to address the challenge. For China’s economy target of this year as around 5%, he considered it a target to be welcomed, “it's ambitious but it's achievable”. 

SFC Markets and Finance: How do you comment on 2025 CDF?

Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles: Well it's been excellent, it's the right conference at the right time, time of global challenges, time of economic challenges. And we need to cooperate. I'm so pleased to be here, representing the China-Britain Business Council. The UK-China relationship is going from strength to strength. We all know the headwinds we face in terms of economics but also geopolitics. And people who believe in globalization, who believe in the transition to net zero, who believe in innovation, who believe in the sensible use of AI, who believe in the transition to new energy vehicles, need to come together. That's what's happened. I really enjoyed it. And what I particularly enjoyed, as I just said in the last session, was that the air here in Beijing today is cleaner than the air in London.

SFC Markets and Finance: Like you mentioned, the air in Beijing is better and better. Chinese government did a lot on air pollution in the past decades. What do you think of their efforts?

Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles: That were remarkable. It's been done with coherence, patience and discipline, and a sense of purpose. The Chinese people and visitors like me benefit from what China has done to address the challenge. But you know progress has been made, but challenges remain. We've got a lot of work still to do as we heard in this excellent session I just attended. So I'm delighted to be here.

SFC Markets and Finance: Climate change is a global issue. How can we cooperate on that?

Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles: Well we need to work together and we need to convince the skeptics in America and elsewhere that addressing climate change benefits ordinary people. In the end, it's about the health, wealth and happiness of ordinary people, not just about great companies. So it's terribly important to get the message across about the real outcomes of tactic with problem and the real disbenefits, the real disadvantages. If we don't deal with climate change of pollution, of all sorts of ill effects that affect real people trying to live real lives in real towns and cities and villages across China and the world.

SFC Markets and Finance: China strives to achieve its economic growth target of around 5% this year. Are you confident with this goal?

Sherard Louis Cowper-Coles: (Around) 5%, a target is to be welcomed, it's ambitious but it's achievable. The world needs to play its part in helping China deliver that and also benefiting from it. We're very welcome about China being open for business, open for investment, believing in globalization, believing in connectivity between China's economy and the world's economy.

Chief Producer: Yu Xiaona

Supervising Producer: Shi Shi

Editor: He Jia

Reporter: Shi Shi, Yang Yulai

Video Editor: Li Qun 

New Media Coordination: Ding Qingyun, Zeng Tingfang, Lai Xi, Huang Daxun

Overseas Operations Supervising Producer: Huang Yanshu

Overseas Content Coordinator: Huang Zihao

Overseas Operations Editors: Zhuang Huan, Wu Wanjie, Long Lihua, Zhang Weitao

Produced by: Southern Finance Omnimedia Group