LONDON, Dec 30: Britain was looking for stronger economic ties with China even before the agreement which would eventually hand it Hong Kong was signed in 1984, secret documents released Tuesday showed.
Ahead of late prime minister Margaret Thatcher's trip to Beijing in December that year to sign the deal, officials discussed how she should make the case for British business with China.
The files also revealed how China's then leader Deng Xiaoping reassured Thatcher that his country would keep its side of the agreement, based on the concept of "one country, two systems", adding that China "always honoured its commitments".    ?Agencies