China

It is a great honour as well as a heavy responsibility for me to serve as ambassador of China to the Netherlands. In my more than three decades of service in foreign affairs, I have spent most of them in the field of multilateral development. My previous posting was as ambassador to Ethiopia, the roof of Africa. So, I flowed from the highlands to the lowlands – the Netherlands.

AAlthough situated on the opposite side of the Eurasia continent, the peoples of China and the Netherlands have many shared interests and connections, and our relationship is gaining momentum in building the “Open and

Pragmatic Partnership of Comprehensive

Cooperation”, as termed by our leaders.

We joined hands in tackling the Covid-19.

Our governments have worked together in establishing a special cargo air bridge to ensure essential medical supplies to the Netherlands, maintaining a stable industrial and supply chain, and promoting economic recovery.

Our economic ties have become closer, against the odds of the pandemic. Our bilateral trade last year grew by 7.8%, China became the largest trading partner to the Netherlands outside the EU. In the first half of this year, our trade increased further by more than 30%.

Among EU countries, the Netherlands is the largest destination of Chinese investment and second largest source of investment to China.

Those achievements demonstrate the resilience, potential and entrepreneurship of our business.

China is striving to build an open economy on a higher level, which will bring more opportunities for our economic cooperation. We can protect our planet together. China has set the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060. The job is hard, but our commitment is firm. During COP 15, China has called for the building of a community of

BY H.E. MR. TAN JIAN, AMBASSADOR OF THE REPUBLIC OF CHINA all life on Earth and initiated the Kunming Biodiversity Fund with 1.5 billion RMB yuan. The Netherlands has been a champion on sustainable development. Prime Minister Mark Rutte virtually attended the Second United Nations Global Sustainable Transport Conference held in Beijing and delivered a speech this October. We have huge cooperation potential in green development and combating climate change. While being optimistic, I am sober minded NEXT YEAR, CHINA AND about the challenges ahead, against the

THE NETHERLANDS WILL backdrop of the changing global landscape. CELEBRATE THE 50TH China bashing is on the rise. But our goal is ANNIVERSARY OF THE simply to meet the growing aspiration of the

ESTABLISHMENT OF OUR AMBASSADORIAL DIPLOMATIC RELATIONSHIP. Chinese people for a better life. To replace any other country is never our national strategy. We export goods, not systems. The unprecedented global challenges today require unprecedented cooperation. China is part of the solution, not part of the problem. Next year, China and the Netherlands will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of our ambassadorial diplomatic relationship. As ambassador, I will do my level best to enhance understanding and strengthen partnership between our two countries.