Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Wednesday called for closer people-to-people exchanges between China and the United Kingdom to lay a solid social foundation for the development of the bilateral relationship.

People-to-people exchanges can be a "booster" for bilateral ties, which will benefit the people of the two countries, Liu said at a meeting on China-UK high-level cultural exchanges.

Liu and British Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt co-chaired the meeting on Wednesday in Beijing.

The two sides should look at people-to-people exchanges with a strategic and long-term perspective, carry forward the pledges of predecessors and open up a new road for the future, take care of each other's major concerns and core interests, and share experiences of reform and development, said the Chinese vice premier.

She said China and the UK should seek common ground while putting aside differences, and enhance mutual understanding.

"Despite differences of national conditions, social systems and view on values, China and the UK have more common interests than disputes," Liu said, urging the two sides to build a "bridge" featuring understanding, inclusiveness and cooperation through dialogue.

She said there was no "quick and easy recipe" for people-to-people exchanges, noting that the two sides should advance practical cooperation with innovative thinking step by step in a consistent way.

Liu said the two sides should make use of both governmental and non-governmental channels and focus their work on grass roots to promote interactions between people, especially the youth, to make them firmly support, positively boost and substantially benefit from friendly cooperation.

According to Liu, more than 100,000 Chinese students went to the UK for further study in 2013, compared with 16 in 1973 when the two governments started student exchange programs. China has become the UK's largest country of origin for international students.

There were more than 1.6 million Chinese students studying overseas and 350,000 foreigners studying in China last year, said the vice premier.

The youth, which are the most energetic and innovative, act as a major force of people-to-people exchanges that can bridge mutual understanding, Liu said, suggesting the two sides set up "flagship programs" to cultivate youth leaders.

The China-UK mechanism for high-level cultural exchanges was launched by Liu and Hunt in London in April 2012. The mechanism is aimed to expand cultural ties between the two countries and strengthen direct communication between the two peoples, as well as allow for more trade opportunities.