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acceptance in principle of the invitation to HM The Queen to visit China; and urge Premier Zhao to take up his invitation to Britain as early as possible next year. (Brief 6b). She could [propose
to begin negotiations with China on a Nuclear Agreement (Brief 6c;] urge the Chinese to begin early negotiations on British claims (Brief 6d) and press for Chinese concessions on Air Services (Brief 6e). On most of these points, Premier Zhao is likely to say little of substance, beyond suggesting that details be pursued through diplomatic channels.
13. On trade (Brief No 7), the Prime Minister could begin by
welcoming and reciprocating recent Chinese expressions of desire
to increase bilateral trade. She could refer to the momentum
generated by the Hong Kong agreement and the intrinsic scope for British participation in Chinese modernization, outline current activity and express eagerness to explore vigorously all new opportunities. To demonstrate this, she could propose that a senior commercial delegation led by Lord Young visit China early in 1985
(This will already have been put informally to the Chinese). She could express the hope that contract negotiations for the Guangdong Nuclear Project be completed quickly. She could then express support
for British efforts in a number of other promising specific projects
and sectors and emphasise the importance of a good investment protection and promotion agreement; Defensive and background briefing is provided on technology transfer (COCOM); concessionary finance; China/GATT; EC import restrictions and the possibility of a UK/China
Joint Commission.
14. Turning to international issues (Brief No 5), the Prime Minister might wish to begin by giving a brief account of her talks on
16 December with Mr Gorbachev, touching particularly on E-W relations and arms control and inviting Chinese comments (any necessary briefing
will be provided following the Gorbachev visit). She could then ask how Premier Zhao sees prospects for Sino-Soviet relations (particularly
the forthcoming visit of Deputy Prime Minister Arkhipov) (Brief 8a) and the linkage between these and the situations in Indo-China and Afghanistan (Briefs 8 b and c). If time allows, she could also
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/invite