Chinese FM holds phone talks with Dutch FM

BEIJING, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Wednesday held phone talks with Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot at the latter's request.

Congratulating Slot on her new position, Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said the Netherlands is the gateway of China-Europe cooperation, and relations between both countries have maintained a sound momentum, with bilateral exchanges in various fields having fully restarted after the pandemic. Dutch exports to China have increased rapidly, demonstrating the huge potential of bilateral cooperation.

China appreciates the Netherlands for pursuing a positive policy toward China and stands ready to work with the Netherlands to give full play to the advantages of the bilateral comprehensive partnership that stresses openness and pragmatism, thoroughly plan bilateral exchanges at the next stage and further facilitate exchanges between the two peoples, so as to promote the sustained and steady development of bilateral ties, said Wang.

Wang said he hoped the Netherlands will adhere to the spirit of independence, freedom and openness, follow international trade rules and uphold the spirit of contract, and join forces with China to promote bilateral cooperation in economy and trade, science and technology, innovation and other fields, and maintain the stability of the global industrial chain and supply chain.

For her part, Slot said that trade relations between both countries are strong, and China is the Netherlands' most important trading partner in Asia. The Netherlands is happy about the gradual resumption of bilateral exchanges at all levels since the start of this year, and is willing to work with China to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation and push forward the open and pragmatic comprehensive cooperative partnership.

The two sides also exchanged opinions on China-Europe relations. Wang said that there is no fundamental conflict of interests between China and Europe, with consensuses far outweighing differences. China-Europe relations do not depend on and should not be interfered with by any third party.

He said China is willing to work with the European side to stick to the bilateral partnership and promote the sustained, sound and stable development of China-Europe relations. He hoped that the Netherlands will continue to play a constructive role in this regard and jointly prepare for the next stage of high-level exchanges between China and Europe.

The two sides also exchanged views on international and regional issues of mutual concern.