On October 27, local time, Jia Qinglin, chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, met with Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Uri Rosenthal in the Hague.

Jia said that the Netherlands was among the first Western countries to recognize the People's Republic of China. With the joint efforts of both sides, China-Netherlands relations have gradually been characterized by being positive and pragmatic. Jia said that currently mutual political trust has been increasing and bilateral cooperation has produced fruitful results especially in the economic and trade sector. Both sides have kept close exchanges in scientific, cultural and educational areas and maintained sound communication and coordination in international issues.

Jia said China attaches importance to developing relations with the Netherlands and hopes the Netherlands will continue to pursue a positive policy toward China and maintain the consistency of its China policy. Next year is the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. China is ready to work with the Netherlands to well organize a series of celebrations to promote bilateral relations to a higher level.

Jia also introduced China's concept and practice of peaceful development, stressing that the Chinese people are unswerving in their determination to take the road of peaceful development. He said China has always attached great importance to developing relations with European countries. In recent years, China-EU relations have maintained sound development momentum in general. Jia said trade volume between China and European countries reached 480 billion U.S. dollars last year despite the international financial crisis, showing the enormous potential in their future cooperation. China and EU, as two major powers and economies of the world, should treat each other with mutual respect, equality, openness and tolerance. In the current situation, both sides should work together to push forward China-EU relations and promote the world economy to achieve strong, balanced and sustainable growth through sincere cooperation.

For his part, Rosenthal said Jia's current visit is of special and great significance, as it came at a time when bilateral relations have maintained sound growth momentum and both sides will celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic ties. The Netherlands has always attached great importance to its ties with China and is committed to advancing cooperation with China. With China's rising international status and expanding influence, the Netherlands is ready to establish closer cooperative relations with China and jointly cope with global challenges to promote Netherlands-China, EU-China relations to a higher level.

Vice-Chairman and Secretary-General of the National Committee of the CPPCC Qian Yunlu, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands Zhang Jun and other officials attended the meeting.