MADRID - On the eve of Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Britain, Spanish experts have predicted that the first visit of a Chinese head of state to the country in a decade will open a new chapter in bilateral ties, especially in financial cooperation, and revitalize the over 40-year-old relations between China and Europe.

Great potential for financial cooperation

As Britain is a financial center of Europe and China is making great efforts to develop its service sector in the process of economic transformation, there is great potential for the two countries to cooperate in such fields as financial services.

Financial cooperation occupies pride of place in efforts to improve cooperation between the London Stock Exchange, the most important in Europe, and the Chinese stock exchanges in Shanghai and Shenzhen, Federico Saenz de Santa Maria, an economist and professor at the University of Economics in Madrid, Spain, told Xinhua recently.

He said that the first thing European markets do on opening business is to look at the closing data from China.

He underlined that the two countries will look to deepen agreements over direct commerce in their currencies, which will allow London to become a key center for operations with the yuan, or renminbi (RMB), in the West.

In the opinion of experts at the consultancy Delta Economics, which has its headquarters in London, there is a "high potential of movement in currency from the dollar to the yuan," with the yuan becoming the second most important world currency after the US dollar.

Britain could become a perfect partner to develop an effective role in investment between China, the European Union and the G20, Saenz de Santa Maria said.

The professor also highlighted that the Chinese and British economies are complimentary, and the two sides could collaborate in the technology field, such as advanced materials, the photovoltaic industry, oil and gas, infrastructure, nuclear energy, high-speed railways and bilateral high-technology commerce among others.