Premiers Li Keqiang (left) and Charles Michel (right)

 

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang completed visits to Belgium and the Netherlands. China and the European Union have made progress in negations to conclude a bilateral investment treaty (BIT), Li said when meeting the press alongside Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels. Li also discussed accelerating BIT negotiations with EU leaders at the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting summit. “The treaty will help China and the EU further open to one another,” he said. China is ready to ease market access for investors from Belgium and provide them with the same treatment as local businesses, the Chinese Premier said. He added that China is willing to further enhance cooperation with Belgium in innovation and high-technology. Cooperation in technology and innovation as well as safe use of nuclear energy were among the topics of talks between Li and Michel. “We believe that advanced technologies from Belgium will have great market potential in China, and China will give strict protections to intellectual property,” Premier Li said. “China is now working on the procedure of lifting the ban on imports of beef from Belgium, and we will accelerate the process,” Li said. “We are ready to expand imports of high quality agriculture products from Belgium.” Premier Charles Michel said that Belgium is willing to enhance cooperation with China in areas of agriculture, energy, infrastructure and connectivity.

Premier Li also visited the Netherlands. In a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte, Li said that China will further expand its market access in manufacturing and financial and other services to worldwide investors. Agreements worth close to USD10 billion were signed during the visit. Li said that some European companies have already benefited from China’s new opening-up efforts in easing equity share limits in basic manufacturing industries. China is willing to further cooperate with the Netherlands in agriculture, manufacturing and services. Calling the graying of the population a challenge facing both countries, Li said China is ready to learn from the experiences of the Netherlands and expand cooperation with the country in taking care of the elderly, as well as in clean energy and urbanization. Premier Li also called to jointly protect multilateralism and free trade. “Without free trade, there is no such thing as fair trade. And free trade cannot be sustainable without fair trade,” Li said. He told Premier Rutte that China is willing to strengthen coordination with the Netherlands on reform of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the China Daily reports. It was the first trip by a Chinese Premier to the Netherlands in 14 years.

Lithium Werks, a Dutch battery start-up which makes rechargeable lithium iron phosphate batteries, agreed to build a 1.6 billion euro plant in China’s Yangtze River Delta region. The plant will be the company’s second in China and will be able to produce batteries with 500 GWh storage capacity per year by 2030. Royal Dutch Shell and China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC) also signed a deal to develop a third-phase project valued at billions of U.S. dollars. The two operate a joint venture at the Nanhai petrochemicals complex in Huizhou in Guangdong Province. Xiamen Airlines and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines intensified their partnership with a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on maintenance worth CNY2.8 billion. ING and the Bank of Beijing signed an agreement on setting up a joint venture retail bank in China worth CNY3 billion, with the Dutch side holding a 51% stake.

The Netherlands is China’s second-largest trading partner in the European Union. Bilateral trade volume between the two countries reached USD78.38 billion in 2017, an annual increase of 16.5%.

Premier Li also attended the 12th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit in Brussels. Launched in 1996, the ASEM Summit is a venue for dialogue between Asian and European countries. The theme of this year’s summit was “Europe and Asia: Global Partners and Global Challenges”. Asian and European countries should work together to play a guiding role in protecting multilateralism and to build an open global economy, Premier Li Keqiang said at the Summit.