On the afternoon of June 27, 2019, Premier Li Keqiang held talks at the Great Hall of the People with Prime Minister Mark Rutte of the Netherlands who was in China for a working visit.

Li Keqiang expressed that as a country fed by the sea, the Netherlands' development is underpinned by trade with a tradition of opening up, and the Netherlands was one of the earliest Western countries to recognize the People's Republic of China. In recent years, China-Netherlands relations have enjoyed prosperous development, with cooperation being continuously advanced. The Chinese side is willing to enhance exchanges with the Dutch side at all levels, consolidate political mutual trust, tap into cooperation potential and intensify communication and coordination in international and regional affairs to elevate bilateral relations to new heights.

Li Keqiang pointed out that the Netherlands is China's second largest trade partner in the European Union (EU) and bilateral cooperation enjoys broad prospects. In face of increasing instabilities and uncertainties in the world, we are ready to enhance the synergy of development strategies with the Dutch side, expand two-way opening up, and provide an open, transparent, and non-discriminatory business environment for enterprises from both countries, to contribute to the world economic growth. Both countries should enhance cooperation in key areas including trade, investment, innovation, clean energy, agriculture, and third-party markets, to better achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Li Keqiang stressed that the Chinese side attaches great importance to relations with the EU, firmly supports the process of European integration, and is willing to work with the EU to implement the outcomes of the China-EU leaders' meeting, accelerate the investment agreement negotiation, reach a geographical indication agreement as scheduled, deepen cooperation in various fields, jointly safeguard multilateralism and free trade, promote inclusive development, and maintain peace and stability.

Mark Rutte noted that the Netherlands and China have maintained close high-level exchanges. Premier Li Keqiang's successful visit to the Netherlands last year injected new impetus into the development of bilateral relations. Given the downward pressure on the international economy and trade, the Dutch side is ready to work with the Chinese side to strengthen cooperation, uphold multilateralism and jointly uphold the international order. The Dutch side stands ready to actively promote EU-China relations.