The first meeting of the China-UK Financial Working Group was held in Beijing, co-chaired by Pan Gongsheng, governor of the People's Bank of China, and Lucy Rigby, economic secretary to Britain's Treasury. As a side event of the working group, a roundtable with financial institutions was organized. Ge Haijiao, chairman of Bank of China, was invited to attend and deliver remarks.

Ge stated that financial cooperation between the UK and China has a solid historical foundation. As the first Chinese bank to establish a presence in the UK, BOC has been operating in the UK market for nearly a century, consistently serving UK enterprises and financial institutions, and acting as a financial bridge for bilateral trade and investment. Over the past five years, BOC has issued, underwritten, and distributed sustainability-themed bonds totaling 70.6 billion US dollars in the UK, providing financial support to British companies in key sectors such as clean energy, infrastructure, and digital technology.

In the future, BOC will work with the financial communities of both countries to further develop London's offshore renminbi market, promote innovation in settlement, financing, trading, and investment, and support further progress in London's development as a global financial center. BOC will also contribute to global green finance development by leveraging cooperation opportunities between the UK and China in areas such as green bonds and transition finance, providing "China-UK solutions" for global sustainable development. Furthermore, BOC will help connect bilateral financial market by building a multi-layered, cross-market financial services system, providing businesses with various and complementary investment channels and products. These efforts will help turn the potential of China-UK cooperation into concrete results.

Following the meeting, the People's Bank of China released the First UK-China Financial Working Group Joint Readout, which includes the parties' welcome of Bank of China London Branch as the second RMB clearing bank in the UK.