China has replaced India as the primary overseas destination of British citizens, according to the newly appointed British Ambassador to China, Barbara Woodward.
There were a record high of more than 400,000 British visas issued in China in 2014.
Woodward, Britain's first female ambassador to China, said that Chinese tourists on average spend four times more than the average tourist to Britain.
"They are a serious proposition to U.K. tourism," Woodward said. "However you cut the cake, tourism is somewhere between our third- and seventh-largest industry."
Woodward said that Britain's bond with China was now as important as its longstanding special relationship with the United States. She noted that China is a rising superpower and may overtake the United States.
Her top priority is Britain's burgeoning trade and investment in China, which is worth 60 billion pounds to the U.K. economy. But there are also the social and cultural links between the two nations, helped by the famous lure of Bicester shopping village, which attracts 47 percent of Chinese tourists to the U.K.
Woodward described U.K.-China relations as a tripod with three legs, representing economic, political and nongovernmental exchange.
According to Woodward, Prince William's visit to China opened up opportunities for the two countries to strengthen exchanges in art and culture, adding that more activities are up next year to mark the 400th death anniversary of William Shakespeare.
Woodward took office as ambassador to China in Feb. 2015. She has worked in Russia, the European Union and the United Nations.