Photo: Xinhua
BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo in Beijing on Friday. Mr Xi said China attaches great importance to the development of China-Belgium relations, and announced that since the establishment of diplomatic ties 53 years ago, bilateral cooperation has yielded fruitful results and benefited both nations.
Both China and Belgium are countries that benefit from economic globalisation and have a common interest in fighting protectionism and protecting free trade, Mr Xi said.
China appreciates Mr. De Croo's open opposition to the separation or disruption of industrial and supply chains, which Mr. De Croo has expressed several times, invites Belgian companies to invest in China and is ready to provide them with a sound business environment, Mr. Xi Jinping said and expressed the hope that Belgium would provide a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies.
Mr Xi Jinping said the two sides could combine their strengths and strengthen cooperation in traditional areas such as transport, logistics and the biopharmaceutical industry, as well as explore new areas for cooperation such as green development and the digital economy. He urged both sides to encourage government agencies, legislatures and local governments to promote exchanges and dialogue, as well as to promote tourism and student exchanges, organize large-scale cultural activities in their countries and conduct research on conservation of giant pandas.
Mr Xi Jinping announced that China is ready to strengthen communication with Belgium within multilateral structures such as the UN and to cooperate on issues such as climate change and biodiversity protection.
Mr Xi stressed that China has maintained long-term consistency in its policy towards Europe, noting that China has always considered Europe as a partner and hopes that Europe will play a positive and constructive role as an important force in a multipolar world. In the face of a changing and unstable international situation, China and Europe must build more "bridges", he added.
Mr Xi Jinping said the two sides should work more closely to promote equal and orderly global multipolarity and win-win economic globalisation, and jointly promote world peace, stability and prosperity. China is willing to work with the European Union (EU) to make progress in China-EU relations in the new year, and hopes that Belgium, which holds the rotating EU presidency, will play a positive role in this regard, Mr Xi Jinping added.
Mr De Croo said that the relations between Belgium and China are in many ways a model for European countries' relations with China, and noted that Belgium will continue to respect the one-China policy and conduct a sincere dialogue with China to deepen and promote the further development of bilateral relations in political, economic and other areas.
Mr. De Croo said that Belgium opposes the separation or disruption of industrial and supply chains, called on Chinese companies to implement cooperation in Belgium and expressed his hope to strengthen cultural and people-to-people exchanges with China. Mr De Croo noted that he was deeply impressed by Mr Xi's vivid description of "bridges" during his visit to Belgium ten years ago.
In a changing and turbulent international situation, the world needs China and Europe to work as partners and strengthen their cooperation in a range of areas such as promoting global economic growth, combating climate change and building a more stable world, Mr De Croo continued.
He added that Belgium, which holds the rotating presidency of the EU, is ready to play an active role in the development of EU-China relations and hopes that this visit will contribute to strengthening relations between Belgium and China and between the EU and China.
Xinhua/GN.CZ-JaV_07
https://french.news.cn/20240112/4ac8e94d1dcd4e0a80e150415468eb02/c.html
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