Chinese premier arrives in Netherlands for official visit

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (2nd L) arrives at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Oct. 14, 2018. Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, Oct. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived here on Sunday for an official visit to the Netherlands, the first by a Chinese premier in 14 years.

It is also Li's first trip to the European country as the Chinese premier.

The Netherlands is one of the first western countries to establish diplomatic ties with new China and the two countries decided to build an open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit in 2014, said Li in a written statement upon his arrival.

As two large trading nations, China and the Netherlands are important trading partners for each other, he said, noting that he hopes the visit will further enhance political trust between the two countries.

He said he expects that through this visit, China and the Netherlands will discuss ways to comprehensively deepen and expand cooperation in various areas and cement consensus on safeguarding multilateralism, supporting globalization and promoting trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, so as to inject new impetus to cooperation and relations between China and the Netherlands as well as China and Europe and deliver more benefits to the people.

During his three-day stay, the premier will hold in-depth discussions with Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, and meet with Dutch King Willem-Alexander. He is also set to visit a hi-tech exhibition and address a business forum in The Hague.

The two sides are expected to sign a series of cooperation documents on aviation, energy and finance, among others, according to a press briefing by Chinese Foreign Ministry ahead of the visit.

It is the second stop of Li's Eurasia trip from Oct. 11 to 19. He has paid an official visit to Tajikistan and attended the 17th meeting of the Council of Heads of Government of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in Dushanbe, and will fly to Belgium for the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) summit and a working visit.