China calls on Netherlands to oppose decoupling, safeguard supply chains

Beijing, The Gulf Observer: China and the Netherlands should be united in opposing decoupling, safeguarding global supply chains and promoting global economic recovery, said Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang during a meeting with Dutch Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra in Beijing on Tuesday.

Qin stressed that China and the Netherlands can cooperate on three levels. On the bilateral level, the Netherlands is an important partner of China in Europe, and as China is speeding up its high-quality development and deepening opening up, it is willing to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation, deepen cultural and people-to-people exchanges, and advance multilateral cooperation in arms control, cyber security and climate change with the Netherlands.

China will also continue to expand market access and strengthen intellectual property rights protection, Qin said, adding that both sides should provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory business environment for each other’s companies. He said China welcomes more Dutch companies to increase investment in China.

He noted that China always regards Europe as a comprehensive strategic partner and the Netherlands is a “gateway” for China-Europe cooperation. China and the Netherlands should focus on the positive agenda of China-EU relations and push for a comprehensive resumption of bilateral exchanges and cooperation in various fields, Qin said.

He emphasized that China is committed to peaceful development and adheres to a win-win strategy, so it brings the world opportunities and assurance rather than crises and risks. He added that camp confrontation and artificially severing supply chains are the real threats to the world, so China and the Netherlands should join hands to meet global challenges.

For multilevel cooperation, China stands ready to strengthen communication and coordination with the Netherlands to uphold the international system with the United Nations at its core and the multilateral trading system with the World Trade Organization at the center, Qin said.

Referring to the Ukraine crisis, Qin said China understands the concerns of the Netherlands and other European countries and has always been committed to promoting peace talks. The Chinese government has sent a special representative to Europe to have in-depth communication with the EU side on the political settlement of the crisis. It’s hoped that all parties involved will remain objective and calm, and make joint efforts to end the conflict and restore peace as soon as possible, Qin said.

For his part, Hoekstra said that the Netherlands adheres to the one-China policy and is willing to work with China to uphold market principles and deepen cooperation in agriculture, innovation and other fields. The Dutch side is committed to serving as a facilitator of China-Europe exchanges.

The Netherlands appreciates China’s efforts to promote peace talks and hopes that China will play a constructive role in the peaceful settlement of the Ukraine crisis, Hoekstra added.