Li Qiang Had a Phone Call with Dutch Prime Minister Rutte

Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 25 — On the afternoon of March 25, Premier Li Qiang of the State Council had a phone call with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.

Li Qiang stated that over the past more than ten years since China and the Netherlands established an open and pragmatic comprehensive partnership, both sides have worked together to deepen relations and cooperation. “Openness and pragmatism” has always been a prominent feature, genuinely benefiting the peoples of both countries. Currently, the international situation is becoming more turbulent, with unilateralism and protectionism causing significant shocks to the global economy. The more challenging the situation, the more we must adhere to openness to promote cooperation and pragmatism to achieve mutual benefits. China is willing to work with the Netherlands to strengthen political mutual trust, uphold mutual respect and equal dialogue, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, continuously add new momentum to the common development of both countries, and inject positive energy into promoting world peace and prosperity.

Li Qiang pointed out that China and the Netherlands are important trade and economic partners, and strengthening cooperation aligns with the common interests of both sides. With the implementation of China’s 14th Five-Year Plan, the country’s total economic volume will reach a new level in the next five years, providing greater space for China-Netherlands deepening economic and trade cooperation. China is willing to enhance communication at all levels with the Netherlands, better utilize dialogue mechanisms in trade, science and technology, and other fields, further explore cooperation potential in green and innovative sectors, and achieve higher-level mutual benefits and win-win results. The Netherlands has long been an important gateway for China-Europe cooperation and is a core member of the European Union. We hope the Netherlands will play an active role, promote the EU institutions to view China-Europe relations and cooperation objectively and rationally, and work with China to properly resolve differences and issues through dialogue and consultation, fostering healthy and stable development of China-EU relations.

Rutte stated that China is an important trading partner of the Netherlands, and China-Netherlands relations are among the most important bilateral relations for the Netherlands. The relationship has developed very strongly in recent years. The Dutch new government attaches great importance to relations with China and is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, promote mutually beneficial cooperation in trade, innovation, climate change response, and other fields, and jointly address global challenges to safeguard common interests. Next year marks the 55th anniversary of establishing ambassadorial diplomatic relations between China and the Netherlands. The Dutch side is willing to work with China to continuously make new progress in the open and pragmatic comprehensive partnership. The EU-China relationship is crucial, and the Netherlands is willing to play an active role in promoting EU-China dialogue and cooperation. (End)