China regards the Netherlands as a priority partner within the EU, and is ready to work with the Netherlands to promote cooperation in various fields to achieve new results, Chinese Premier Li Qiang said on Tuesday in a phone conversation with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte.
China will continue to open up its market, strengthen intellectual property protection, and welcome more Dutch high-quality products and competitive firms coming into the Chinese market, Li said, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Li said he hopes the Netherlands will provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese firms to invest in.
China is ready to deepen cooperation with the Netherlands in areas including agriculture, water conservancy and new energy, promote people-to-people exchanges and strengthen cooperation in multilateral areas such as addressing climate change, Li said.
Noting that both countries have benefited from and supported economic globalization and free trade, Li expressed the hope that the Netherlands will uphold the spirit of contractual agreements, adhere to market principles and WTO rules, safeguard the common interests of the two countries and their companies, and maintain the smooth flow of the global industrial and supply chains.
China’s policy toward Europe is characterized by a high degree of consistency and stability, Li said, both China and Europe should practice true multilateralism and jointly oppose camp confrontation and a “new Cold War.”
The Chinese premier expressed hope that the Netherlands would urge Europe to adhere to strategic autonomy, and contribute more to the development of China-Europe ties.
Rutte said that China is an important cooperative partner of the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is willing to maintain close high-level exchanges with China, deepen cooperation in the fields of economy and trade, water conservancy and climate change, and push forward the open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, he said.
The Netherlands is ready to continue to be a bond and bridge for cooperation and exchanges between Europe and China, Rutte added.
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