Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday held a phone call with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands Wopke Hoekstra.

Wang Yi said that the Netherlands is an important cooperative partner of China in Europe, and China attaches great importance to developing relations with the Netherlands. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the Netherlands. The two sides should take this opportunity to jointly implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries, and make more contributions to the development of the two countries and world peace and stability.

Wang Yi also said that the Netherlands has become China’s second $100 billion trade partner in the EU after Germany, which fully reflects the huge potential of cooperation between the two countries. It is hoped that the Netherlands will actively support and participate in the Global Development Initiative and Global Data Security Initiative proposed by the Chinese side, so as to jointly promote the sustainable development of the world.

The Netherlands has sent the largest Winter Olympic delegation in history, and it has achieved excellent results so far. China congratulated it and wished the Dutch delegation great results in the competitions.

Hoekstra congratulated the successful holding of the Beijing Winter Olympics and praised the wonderful opening ceremony and excellent organization of the Winter Olympics.He emphasized that the Netherlands attaches great importance to the new opportunities brought by the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and is willing to strengthen exchanges at all levels between the two countries.

Check out The China Report, our new weekly newsletter. Subscribe here!