Premier Li Qiang held talks with Dutch Prime Minister Rutte, who is visiting China for a working visit, at the Diaoyutai State Guesthouse in Beijing on the afternoon of March 27th.
Li Qiang stated that 74 years ago today, the Netherlands announced its recognition of the People's Republic of China, placing itself at the forefront of European countries in developing relations with China. Over the past 70 years, China-Netherlands relations have achieved remarkable progress. In particular, since the establishment of an open and pragmatic comprehensive partnership in 2014, bilateral relations have entered the fast lane of development, with fruitful cooperation in various fields benefiting the peoples of both countries. President Xi Jinping's meeting with Prime Minister Rutte today has reached important consensus, clarifying the direction for the further development of bilateral relations. China is willing to work with the Netherlands to continue promoting bilateral relations in a stable manner, achieving more win-win results, and carrying forward the spirit of open and pragmatic cooperation.
Li Qiang pointed out that in today's world of complex and intertwined changes, protectionism and Cold War mentality are on the rise, causing significant impact on international relations and the global economy. Both China and the Netherlands adhere to free trade and should continue to expand mutual openness and strengthen pragmatic cooperation, which is conducive to consolidating and deepening bilateral relations, and also in line with the fundamental interests of both peoples, injecting more stability and certainty into the world. Both sides should continue to expand the scale of economic and trade cooperation, explore the cooperation potential in fields such as artificial intelligence, green transformation, and silver economy, strengthen innovative cooperation in areas such as offshore wind power, photovoltaic power generation, and hydrogen energy, providing stronger driving force for the development of both countries. China will continue to create a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and welcomes more Dutch companies to invest in China. We also encourage more Chinese companies to invest and develop in the Netherlands, and hope that the Dutch side will provide more convenience for Chinese personnel to go to the Netherlands.
Li Qiang stated that China has always believed that cooperation should be the mainstream of China-EU relations, and partnership is the most correct positioning for both sides towards each other. China welcomes Europe to share the huge market opportunities in China, and hopes that Europe will prudently formulate restrictive economic and trade policies and use trade remedy measures. China is willing to work with the Netherlands to promote the continuous and stable development of China-EU relations.
Rutte expressed that the open and pragmatic comprehensive partnership between the Netherlands and China has achieved fruitful results over the years. The Dutch side cherishes the friendship with China, adheres to the one-China principle, and is willing to strengthen mutual learning and mutual benefit with China, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, deepen cultural exchanges, jointly address global challenges such as climate change, and promote the continuous advancement of relations between the Netherlands and China, as well as between Europe and China.
Wu Zhenglong attended the talks.