Visiting London Mayor Ken Livingstone opened a new London office in Beijing on Tuesday to boost cooperation and exchanges between the two cities.
The London Economic Development and Inward Investment office is the first the city has established abroad to boost trade, investment and social exchanges.
Livingstone said the office aimed to promote the exchanges in commerce, trade and tourism.
The two cities could learn much from each other, especially in staging the Olympic Games, the mayor said.
Sebastian Coe, head of the London delegation bidding for the 2012 Olympic Games and the Paralympic Games, met on Tuesday with Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2008 Olympic Games.
Both sides pledged to support each other's Olympic Games projects and carry forward the spirit of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
Nearly 400 Chinese enterprises have established branches in Britain and the Olympic Games will lift the Chinese capital's cooperation with London to a new level.
Liu Qi, president of the Beijing Organising Committee for the 2008 Olympics, made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting London Mayor Ken Livingstone.
"Beijing and London had traditional friendship, and the Olympics has offered a good opportunity for the cooperation between the two cities,"said Liu.
Livingstone, who has visited Beijing Olympic venues as well as the urban planning exhibition during his stay, said that London will share experience and enhance exchanges with Beijing in hosting the Olympic Games.
The mayor added that the Olympics bring both cities opportunities for development, but also responsibilities of delivering it successfully due to the Games' great influence on billions of people in the world.
He said that the delegation of London Organising Committee for the 2012 Olympic Games has met the Beijing organisers, laying a foundation for the cooperation between the two cities
Some 7,700 Chinese students are studying in London,while the number of Chinese tourists and business people going to Britain has increased rapidly in the last six years.
Livingstone said London was the gateway for Chinese enterprises into the European market, and hosted the European and British headquarters of many Chinese enterprises.
Xinhua news agency
