Chinese vice president visits Netherlands, vows common development

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (L) meets with Dutch King Willem-Alexander in The Hague, the Netherlands, May 29, 2019. Wang Qishan paid a visit to the Netherlands from Tuesday to Thursday. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

THE HAGUE, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan paid a visit to the Netherlands from Tuesday to Thursday, pledging to cement bilateral ties and achieve common development.

During his stay in the Hague, Wang met with Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Prime Minister Mark Rutte separately.

Wang conveyed best regards from Chinese President Xi Jinping to King Willem-Alexander, saying the China-Netherlands relations have seen a rapid growth in recent years in the spirit of mutual respect and seeking common ground while putting aside differences.

The facts prove that the two countries could achieve common development and prosperity despite their different social systems, cultures and development stages, said Wang.

China welcomes the Netherlands to actively participate in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), said Wang, hoping the Dutch side to create a fair, non-discriminatory and transparent business environment for the Chinese investors.

Stressing the historical trend of economic globalization, Wang said China has always insisted on mutual benefit and win-win cooperation based on consultations on equal footing in a bid to build a community with shared future for mankind.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander said the Netherlands values relations with China, and expressed his satisfaction with recent development of bilateral ties.

China's development is very important to world peace and prosperity, said King Willem-Alexander, calling on every country to strive to solve their own problems and join hands to tackle common challenges facing the world.

While meeting with Rutte on Wednesday, Wang said his visit to the Netherlands aims to enhance communication and mutual trust and implement consensus reached by leaders of the two countries during their mutual visits.

The two countries have taken on a path featuring win-win cooperation of a high level, which is demonstrated by frequent high-level exchanges, fruitful cooperation outcomes and rising people-to-people exchanges, said Wang.

Wang urged the two sides to enhance bilateral trade, facilitate investment and deepen cooperation in financial and innovative sectors.

China supports the European integration, said Wang, adding that China will work with the European side to safeguard and uphold the free trade principles and jointly build an open world economy.

Rutte, for his part, said the Netherlands and China are important cooperative partners, and the Belt and Road Initiative is highly consistent with the EU Strategy on Connecting Europe and Asia.

The Dutch side is ready to strengthen cooperation with China in such fields as technological innovation, green finance, climate change and clean energy,and jointly explore the third-party market, said Rutte.

The prime minister said the Netherlands appreciates China's stance on the climate change issue, expressing hope to jointly safeguard rules-based multilateral trade system.

The Netherlands is Wang's second stop of his Asia-Europe tour, which will also take him to Germany. Wang has visited Pakistan starting from May 26.