On 25 September 2018, the Chinese Mission to the EU and the Chinese Embassy in the Kingdom of Belgium co-hosted a reception in celebration of the 69th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. The reception saw the presence of nearly 700 participants, including Vice Presidents of the European Parliament Dimitrios Papadimoulis and Ioan Mircea Paşcu, Ambassador Françoise Gustin from the Federal Public Service of Foreign affairs of Belgium, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Rose Gottemoeller, Chairman of the EU Military Committee General Mikhail Kostarakos, Chairman of the NATO Military Committee Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, Secretary-General of the World Customs Organization Kunio Mikuriya and other senior officials from the EU institutions and the Belgian authorities, MEPs, members of the diplomatic corps, representatives of the Chinese communities, and so forth.

In a lobby decorated with red lanterns, Ambassador ZHANG Ming, Head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, and his wife, as well as Ambassador CAO Zhongming, warmly greeted the guests.

In his remarks, Ambassador Zhang said, "In the past 69 years, China has made new strides toward greater prosperity. This year is the first year for us in China to move toward the goal set by the Communist Party of China at its 19th National Congress. We have vigorously implemented the new development vision, pursued high-quality development and accelerated reform and opening-up. China's economy has stayed at a steady and positive course. Chinese people are leading a more fulfilling and happier life. China has advanced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), aiming for the sharing of opportunities, benefits and prosperity. China has firmly upheld multilateralism and the rules-based global order, and has been working hard for the building of a new type of international relations and a community of shared future for mankind."

Ambassador Zhang said, "This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up. In the past 40 years, China has been taking the initiative to integrate into global economy, generating huge opportunities for global development. Since the start of this year, China has introduced a number of new measures to strengthen IPR protection, ease market access, improve business environment and boost imports."

Ambassador Zhang emphasized, "Despite that multilateralism and free trade are being gravely challenged by unilateralism and protectionism that are rising in some part of the world, China remains determined to expand opening-up. China will firmly uphold WTO rules and the multilateral trading system, and strive to build an open world economy."

Ambassador Zhang said, "This year marks the 15th anniversary of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. The 20th China-EU Summit was successfully held. China and the EU agreed to forge synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative and the EU's strategy for connecting Europe and Asia. China and the EU have continued to push the boundary of cooperation in such areas as trade and investment, science and innovation and green development, each drawing on the other's strengths to the fullest extent. The China-Belgium all-round partnership of friendly cooperation maintains high-level performance. High-level exchanges are frequent, and political mutual trust is increasing. In the framework of the China-EU Tourism Year, the dynamic cultural events and people-to-people exchanges have greatly enhanced mutual understanding."

Guests expressed their congratulations and spoke highly of China's achievements in the past decades. Many of them said that in the current global environment, it is all the more important for China and Europe to join hands for the sake of global peace, stability and development.