Premier highlights opening-up, free trade, joint response to challenges

2018-10-16
english.gov.cn

Unswervingly expand opening-up

China is ready to expand opening-up for Dutch investment in the country, in a bid to show its determination to continuously expand its opening-up, said Premier Li Keqiang in the Netherlands on Oct 15.

He made the remarks when meeting the press with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. “Unswervingly expand opening-up” is the first message of Premier Li’s meeting with Rutte.

The Premier said he once visited the Netherlands when he was governor of one of China’s central provinces, and was impressed by the agricultural modernization in the country.

He said China will not only expand cooperation with the Netherlands in agriculture, but also lift restrictions and deepen cooperation in the manufacturing and service sectors.

The two countries forged a solid foundation in trade and investment, and it is believed that the increasing bilateral cooperation will surely achieve great results, Premier Li said.

In July, during Premier Li’s visit to Germany, he and German Chancellor Angela Merkel witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding of the Chinese side with German chemical company BASF. According to the agreement, with an investment of 10 billion euros, a highly-integrated German chemical production base will be set up in Zhanjiang of South China’s Guangdong province, the first wholly-owned foreign chemical company in China.

And in early September, Premier Li met with Darren Woods, CEO and chairman of ExxonMobil, in Beijing, encouraging and promoting the success of a $10 billion exclusively-funded petrochemical project in Guangdong.

After the meeting with Rutte on Oct 15, Premier Li clearly expressed willingness that China would like to enhance opening-up in investment fields or proportions of stake-holding to the Netherlands.

China is glad to build a market-oriented, law-based and international business environment for enterprises with varied ownerships from all over the world, said Premier Li, adding that China will firmly open its door wider and treat all enterprises equally.

Multilateralism and free trade

“International trade is one of the common challenges we are facing at present, which calls for improved rules and joint cooperation,” Rutte said.

Premier Li stressed that multilateralism and free trade should be safeguarded against the background of a complicated international situation with growing uncertainties, adding that countries should preserve international order based on rules, to better serve liberalization and facilitation of trade and investment.

According to the Premier, China is ready to declare with the Netherlands that they are committed to protecting multilateralism and free trade, improve the multilateral trading system, and join hands in coping with unilateralism challenges.

Joint response to challenges of human society

Premier Li also hailed Rutte’s words on climate change, population aging, and other challenges facing the mankind.

Despite the different situations of how the two nations are tackling those challenges, the Chinese side is willing to work with the Netherlands to address the issues, he said.

“China firmly upholds the Paris Agreement, and will continue to honor its promises in the campaign against climate change,” Premier Li said, adding that the nation is also willing to strengthen cooperation with the Netherlands in population aging and discuss the opening-up of China’s elderly care sector.

Premier Li said China is willing to conduct active dialogues with the Netherlands on the basis of equality and cooperation, to enhance mutual understanding.

“We welcome enterprises from the Netherlands to expand investment in China, and hope the two sides will increase people exchanges. China and the Netherlands have great potential in cooperation, and our common interests far outweigh differences,” the Premier said.

For his part, Rutte said as the portal of Europe, the Netherlands is willing to consolidate political mutual trust with China, deepen pragmatic cooperation, and build bridges for win-win cooperation between more Chinese and Dutch enterprises.