Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende said yesterday that
his country was drafting a new policy toward China to boost
bilateral ties.
The comments were made during Balkenende's meeting with Chinese
Premier Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of the ongoing Asia-Europe
Meeting (ASEM) summit in Helsinki, Finland.
Balkenende said the new policy was aimed at strengthening
coordination with China on major international and regional
affairs, and encouraging bilateral trade and investment.
The new policy would make the one-China policy the foundation of
its ties with China, he said, reiterating that China's fast
development served as an opportunity rather than a threat to his
country.
The Netherlands would give priority to cooperation with China in
politics, trade, and sustained development, he added.
For his part, Wen expressed his appreciation for the efforts the
Netherlands had made to develop Sino-Dutch ties, saying the two
sides should maintain the trend of high level exchanges, strengthen
coordination on energy security, nuclear non-proliferation and
African development.
He said China hoped to deepen its cooperation with the
Netherlands in the fields of environmental protection, agriculture,
electronic information, biology, financial services and
transportation.
Wen also met with his Polish counterpart Jaroslaw Kaczynski
yesterday.
Wen arrived in Helsinki Saturday for the two-day ASEM summit,
which marks the ASEM's 10th anniversary and has gathered heads of
state or government from 13 Asian countries and the 25 member
states of the EU.
(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2006)
