President Xi and visiting Netherlands PM agree on importance of opposing ‘decoupling’ calls
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Prime Minister of the Netherlands Mark Rutte, who is paying a working visit to China, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, March 27, 2024. (PHOTO / XINHUA)
China and the Netherlands highlighted their shared commitment to opposing the severing of industrial and supply chains as President Xi Jinping hosted visiting Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Beijing on March 27.
Xi told Rutte, who was on a two-day working visit to China, that any deliberate action to create barriers in science and technology and sever industrial and supply chains would only sow division and confrontation.
“The experience from history tells us economic globalization may face headwinds, but the general trend of history will not change,” Xi said at the meeting. “Decoupling or the severing of supply chains will only lead to a dead end, while openness and cooperation are the only choices on this planet.”
Rutte said that decoupling and the severing of supply chains are not a policy option of the Dutch government, as any action that harms the development interests of China will backfire.
The meeting between the two leaders took place after Dutch companies faced pressure from the United States to cut off the supply of advanced chipmaking equipment to Chinese companies.
Xi stressed on March 27 that the binary black-and-white mentality which supposes that one side must outcompete the other is long outdated.
A world of true security should feature deep integration and interdependence, he said.
The Chinese people are entitled to the right to legitimate development, and no force can stand in the way of China’s sci-tech progress, he added.
Xi assured the Dutch leader that China stands ready to expand imports of high-quality products from the Netherlands and that the nation welcomes more investment from Dutch companies.
He called on the Netherlands to provide a fair and transparent business environment for Chinese companies.
The president urged both sides to actively advance traditional cooperation in agriculture, water management, and energy, while exploring the potential for cooperation in sectors such as artificial intelligence, green transformation, and the silver economy.
Xi expressed hope that the two sides continue to adopt more measures to make it easier for the exchange of personnel after China adopted a 15-day pilot visa-free policy for Dutch citizens, as well as to encourage exchanges in education, culture, and at the people-to-people level.
Rutte emphasized that his country values its friendly relations with China, saying that his government stands ready to deepen the partnership, better facilitate the exchange of personnel, and enhance cooperation in the economy, trade, and cutting carbon emissions.
According to the Foreign Ministry, China’s imports from the Netherlands grew 35.1 percent on a yearly basis in 2023.
China is the second-largest trading partner of the Netherlands, while the European country is China’s second-largest trading partner in the European Union.
Premier Li Qiang, who also met with the Dutch leader on March 27, said that both sides should expand the scale of economic and trade cooperation and tap into the potential for collaboration in fields such as artificial intelligence and green transformation.
China has always believed that cooperation is the mainstream for ties with the EU, and partnership is the most correct orientation for China-EU relations, he said.
