Your Excellency Mr. Yves Leterme,

Chairman Philippe Latour,

Friends from Business Communities,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good evening.

It gives me great pleasure to attend the Chinese New Year Reception hosted by the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC) and celebrate the traditional Chinese festival together with old and new friends. First of all, I would like to wish you all good health, happiness and booming business in the Year of the Dragon.

As many of you may be quite interested in China-Belgium relations, cooperation between the two countries in particular, let me share with you my observations with a few keywords.

The first keyword is “resilience”. In the past year, the international landscape has become increasingly fluid, the world economy has met multiple challenges, the recovery process of major economies has been difficult, and global investment has stagnated and trade declined. Against this backdrop, both China-Belgium relations and economic and trade cooperation have shown good resilience. Data show that from January to November 2023, Belgium-China trade in goods totaled 39.1 billion USD, down by 5.1 percent year-on-year, lower than the 9.7 percent decline in EU-China trade. In breakdown, Belgium’s export to China was 8.28 billion USD, up by 12.7 percent comparing to same period of last year.

The second keyword is “cooperation”. In the past year,  China-Belgium cooperation has remained unabated and even further expanded in some areas. The Chinese government has announced the lifting of ban on Belgian beef and pork products. The two governments signed the protocols on phytosanitary requirements for exporting Belgian agricultural products such as witloof chicory to China, and an MOU on the expansion of bilateral air services cooperation. In terms of investment, Chinese company Nuode announced to invest 500 million euros to set up a plant in Wallonia, and Umicore broke ground for its large-scale fuel cell catalyst plant in Changshu, China, highlighting the strong demand for cooperation between the two countries.

The third keyword is “potential”. In the past year, high-level official delegations from China and Belgium visited each other one after another, and business delegations also resumed frequent exchanges. Last month, Prime Minister Alexander De Croo made an official visit to China. He met with President Xi Jinping and held talks with Premier Li Qiang. Both sides sent out the positive signal for open dialogue, close communication and enhanced cooperation, which we believe will provide a good foundation for the two countries to further expand cooperation. Looking ahead, there is huge cooperation potential in sectors such as agri-food products, logistics and transportation, biopharmaceutics, and green development.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends,

As the world’s second largest economy, China enjoys strong resilience and big potential of its economy, and keeps improving its innovation capacity. The fundamentals sustaining China’s sound economic growth in the long run remain unchanged. According to recent data, in 2023, China’s GDP grew by 5.2 percent year-on-year, among the top in major economies. China contributed 32 percent to the world economic growth. China remains an important engine for global growth and will continue to provide strong impetus to world economic development. China remains a popular destination for foreign investment. In 2023, the number of newly established enterprises with foreign investment in China grew by 40 percent year-on-year. It is worth mentioning that foreign investment in the high-tech sector increased by 10.3 percent year-on-year, registering double-digit growth for many years.

China has a mega-sized market with a huge growth potential. In China, there are now over 400 million people in the middle-income bracket, and the number is expected to reach 800 million in the next decade or so. This will generate strong driving force for upgrading consumption. China is deepening its transition toward green and low-carbon growth, and is also cultivating large-scale new growth drivers in sectors such as green infrastructure, green energy, green transportation and green lifestyle. China will continue to increase import of high-quality goods and services from all over the world, attract more foreign investment in areas including medium- and high-end manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals, and provide broader space for boosting global trade and investment.

China remains firmly committed to opening-up and will continue to create favorable conditions for the world to share in China’s opportunities. Over the past five years, the return on foreign direct investment in China stands at 9.1 percent, which is quite competitive globally. Last month in Davos, Premier Li Qiang emphasized that China will only open its door wider to the rest of the world. China embrace investments from businesses of all countries with open arms, and will work tirelessly to foster a market-oriented, law-based and world-class business environment. China will take active steps to address reasonable concerns of foreign enterprises. Choosing the Chinese market is not a risk, but an opportunity.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends,

Belgium is one of the first Western developed countries to invest and set up enterprises in China. Economic and trade cooperation between the two countries has yielded fruitful results. China is willing to work with Belgium to leverage each other’s strengths and pursue mutual benefits at a higher level. It is hoped that Belgium will provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory development environment for Chinese enterprises. We hope that friends from the business communities will play a positive role in promoting win-win cooperation between China and Belgium, and the FCCC will serve as a bridge to contribute to economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

Many Flanders companies have cultivated the Chinese market for many years and achieved significant development. I sincerely welcome you to visit China more frequently, where new changes are taking place every year. I also expect you to actively participate in the China International Import Expo to explore more business opportunities.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Friends,

I want to use this opportunity to say goodbye to you all. I will soon complete my tenure in Belgium and return to China. During my stay in Belgium for more than five years, I have learned quite something about this country and discovered many unique Belgian virtues and impressive municipalities and towns. I would like to thank the FCCC for its support to me and to the Embassy. As a Chinese poem goes, “If you have a friend afar who knows your heart, distance cannot keep you two apart”. I am confident that the future of China-Belgium cooperation will be even better!

In two days, we will celebrate the Spring Festival and usher in the Year of the Dragon. In Chinese culture, dragon symbolizes auspiciousness, wisdom and strength. I hope that in the coming new year, you will take proactive steps to bring China-Belgium practical cooperation to a higher level and deliver more benefit to both countries and peoples.

Thank you.