Basic facts: Sino-Belgium Bilateral Relations

On the morning of March 17, 2005, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt met with visiting Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing.

Verhofstadt made positive remarks on the fruitful achievements of bilateral cooperation in politics, economy and trade and expressed hope to see enhanced economic and trade cooperation between the two countries and welcome to Chinese businesses to invest in Belgium. He said the Belgian government has been consistently upholding the one-China policy over the years. The visit of King Albert II to China within the year will be a great event in bilateral relations and Belgium expects the visit to be successful.

Li said China-Belgium relations have been developing smoothly and the two countries have maintained good cooperation in international organizations. China thanked Belgium for adhering to the one-China policy and would like to make joint efforts with Belgium to ensure King Albert II's visit to China to yield positive results.

On the same day, Li also met with Chairwoman of the Belgian Federal Senate Ms Anna-Marie Lizin and Speaker of the Belgian House of Representatives Mr. Herman De Croo respectively. Both of them expressed admiration for China's achievements in the process of development, understanding on China's stance on the Taiwan issue as well as willingness to actively promote the development of bilateral relations. Li said the exchanges between Chinese and Belgian legislative bodies are an important part of China-Belgium relations and hoped the two sides can conduct exchanges at various levels and through various channels.