China, UK leaders to unveil deals worth £1bln

LONDON — Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and British Prime Minister David Cameron are set to unveil up to £1 billion worth of trade deals after Wen promised to open up his nation's markets to British products.Wen, who was to hold talks with the British leader in London, also vowed to support the crisis-hit eurozone, noting it was in both parties' interest to keep the bloc afloat.The premier on Sunday told the BBC that "we will welcome more British products into the Chinese market" during the second day of his three-day British visit.On the first leg of his three-nation European tour, Wen promised officials in Hungary that China would continue to support its faltering economy, and pledged to similarly aid the eurozone. "We reached agreement on the Chinese government buying a certain amount of government debts," he said."That is China lending a helping hand to Hungary at a time when that country is in difficulty," he added. "We have done this for Hungary and we will do the same thing for other European countries."British Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt spelled out the increasing importance of the Sino-British relationship, calling the Asian nation an "incredibly important economic power and a massive investor in the UK".During Monday's leaders' summit, Cameron was expected to tell Wen that British companies would be more inclined to do business with China if its human rights record was improved, according to The Times newspaper.The pair were set to announce deals worth over £1 billion ($1.6 billion, 1.1 billion euros), according to British media, including a lucrative agreement for British company Seamwell International to develop clean coal technology in China. Wen on Sunday toured Britain as Beijing freed dissident activist Hu Jia in a move seen as defusing tensions over human rights.Wen arrived in the central English city of Birmingham on Saturday, while news emerged that Hu, one of China's most prominent prisoners of conscience, was to be released.Hu, 37, was jailed on subversion charges in April 2008 after

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