(Adds Chinese foreign ministry comment)

By Ben Blanchard

BEIJING, May 17 (Reuters) - China must be more diplomatically engaged and exert influence in dealing with global problems such as those in Africa, Britain's foreign minister said on Thursday, adding Beijing also should not fear domestic political reform.

Calling China a "strategic partner", Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett praised its recent economic development, which has lifted millions out of poverty, and said the world needed a strong, stable China.

"I know that outside interest in China's domestic affairs will always be a sensitive issue," Beckett told an audience at the Central Party School, where China trains its future leaders.

"So let me make it plain: in a globalising world of interdependent states, the success of China is good for the world, and its failure would harm us all," she added.

In Africa, where Beijing has been criticised in the United States and Europe for its close ties with Sudan and Zimbabwe in particular, China has a vital role to play because of its growing investment in the continent, Beckett said.

"This gives China the opportunity to wield significant influence in Africa in support of vital and shared goals: promoting sustainable development; improving governance and reducing poverty; promoting transparent and socially responsible business practices."

She welcomed China's leadership in talks over North Korea's nuclear programme, saying she hoped Beijing would become similarly involved in trying to effect change in military-ruled Myanmar.

"The call on China to show such leadership will only get stronger," said Beckett on her first visit to China as foreign secretary.

At home, Beckett said China needed a free press and an independent judiciary to complement its increasingly open economy.

"One of the most sensitive areas of discussion for any government is legal and political reform. But while it can be tempting to see these as separate from the economic process, they are, of course, integral to it," she said.

Giving people more say in how the country is run would actually lessen confrontation and bring stability, Beckett said.

"And if -- as I do today -- outsiders encourage China down that path and offer any help you might need, it is because of the growing stake we now have in your continued economic success," she added.

Beckett will hold talks with her newly-appointed Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi and meet with "a Chinese state leader" on Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

"We are willing to work with the British side to elevate our all-round strategic partnership to a new height and a broader arena," Jiang told a regular news conference.

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