On January 12, 2024, Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a welcoming ceremony for Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Decroo at the North Hall of the Great Hall of the People prior to their meeting in the Chinese capital, Beijing. Premier Li Qiang met with the visiting Prime Minister of Belgium. Minister Alexander Decroo visited Beijing on Friday. (Xinhua/Shen Hong)
BEIJING, Jan. 12, Xinhua — Chinese Premier Li Qiang held talks with visiting Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Decroo on Friday. Both sides agreed to expand common interests and take bilateral relations to a new level.
Li pointed out that 10 years have passed since China and Belgium upgraded their relations to a comprehensive, friendly and cooperative partnership. He said that relations are making steady progress and cooperation in various fields continues to expand, bringing tangible benefits to the peoples of the two countries.
China will cooperate with Belgium to practice mutual respect, achieve mutual benefits and win-win results, be open and inclusive, strengthen strategic communication, build political mutual trust, and increase the possibility of cooperation. The two countries stand ready to take advantage of this and aim to inject further impetus into the common development of both countries. Both countries do, Lee said.
He said China intends to integrate and expand trade with Belgium, deepen logistics and port cooperation, and actively promote the development of cross-border e-commerce.
Li said China welcomes more Belgian companies to invest in China and supports more Chinese companies to invest in Belgium. And China expects Belgium to uphold the values of openness, abide by market principles, and provide Chinese companies with a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment.
The Prime Minister called on both sides to strengthen exchanges and cooperation in the field of science, technology and innovation, and to maximize mutually complementary advantages. He also called on the two countries to deepen cooperation in environmental protection, modern agriculture, biomedicine, civil nuclear energy and artificial intelligence, and to strengthen cultural, educational and youth exchanges.
Mr. Decroux pointed out that Belgium and China are partners, and economic and trade cooperation between the two countries is developing rapidly. He said high-quality dialogue and consultations were held and both countries share the same goals on climate change and other global issues.
He said that Belgium firmly adheres to the “one China” policy and is keen to deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges with China, and said that Belgium would strengthen bilateral cooperation in fields such as agriculture, food, nuclear power, and communication technology. He said he had intentions.
De Croo added that as holder of the current rotating EU Presidency, Belgium supports the further development of EU-China relations.
After the meeting, Mr. Lee and Mr. De Croo witnessed the signing of a number of bilateral cooperation documents on economic, trade, agriculture, and food issues.
On the same day, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met with Belgian Foreign Minister Hajja Rabib.
Mr. Rahbib said that Belgium does not support Taiwan’s independence and looks forward to developing stable and constructive bilateral relations with China, deepening high-quality cooperation, and strengthening people-to-people exchanges. He said that
He said Belgium expected more balanced economic and trade relations with China and more European companies entering the Chinese market.
Wang, who is also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, stressed that China will adhere to the path of peaceful development, high-quality development and high-level opening up.
Protectionism has no future, and generalization of “risk aversion” will only increase risks, Wang said.
He said China is committed to building a market-oriented, law-based and internationalized business environment, and is ready to strengthen cooperation on green development and climate change with European countries. ■
Chinese Premier Li Qiang meets with visiting Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Decroo at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, the Chinese capital, on January 12, 2024. (Xinhua/Yanyan)
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is also a member of the Politburo of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met in Beijing with Belgian Foreign Minister Hajah Rabib, who is accompanying Belgian Prime Minister Alexander Decroo on his visit to China. Capital of China, January 12, 2024. (Xinhua News Agency/Yin Bogu)