The Ministry of Commerce of China  Photo: VCG

China attaches great importance to the EU's introduction of trade protectionist measures and hopes that Belgium and Luxembourg will play constructive roles in urging the EU to work with China to properly resolve differences through the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism and promote the stable and sound development of China-EU economic and trade ties, an official from the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) said on Thursday, according to a statement from the MOFCOM on Friday. 

The remarks were made when Ling Ji, vice minister of commerce and deputy China international trade representative meeting with Filip Vanden Bulcke, Director-General for Geo-economics and Economic Diplomacy at Belgium's Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs and Henri Schumacher, Secretary General of Luxembourg's Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs during the 23rd China-Belgium-Luxembourg joint committee on economic and trade cooperation in Brussels, Belgium, according to the official website of MOFCOM on Friday. 

Ling said that economic and trade cooperation between China and Belgium, and between China and Luxembourg, has made steady progress in recent years, with fruitful outcomes in aviation, port logistics, biomedicine, clean energy and other sectors. China stands ready to promote the development of such cooperation toward a more optimized structure and higher quality, while fostering new growth areas in trade in services, the digital economy and artificial intelligence.

China is paying close attention to the EU's trade protectionist measures. It hopes Belgium and Luxembourg will play a constructive role in urging the EU to meet China to properly resolve differences through the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism, and promote the stable and sound development of China-EU economic and trade ties, according to the MOFCOM's statement. 

Vanden Bulcke said that Belgium attaches great importance to economic and trade cooperation with China and stands ready to deepen cooperation in shipping and logistics, cross-border e-commerce, biotechnology, agri-food trade and automotive industrial chains. 

Belgium supports resolving differences between China and the EU through dialogue and looks forward to further progress and tangible outcomes from the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism, the statement noted. 

Schumacher said that Luxembourg is pleased with the outcomes of its economic and trade cooperation with China and stands ready to work with China to promote the high-quality development of the Zhengzhou-Luxembourg "Air Silk Road." Luxembourg welcomes positive outcomes from the China-EU trade and investment consultation mechanism, which would help foster a stable and predictable economic and trade environment between China and the EU, the statement said. 

On September 21, China Post launched an international cargo route linking Jiaxing in East China's Zhejiang Province, with Luxembourg. This brings the total number of international and regional routes opened by China Post to 40 and increases the frequency of its self-operated intercontinental flights to Europe to eight per week.

Operated by B777F freighter aircraft, the route primarily serves key industries in Jiaxing and the broader Yangtze River Delta, including electronic information, high-end manufacturing, cross-border e-commerce, photovoltaics and auto parts. 

It is expected to handle more than 12,000 tons of import and export cargo annually, providing efficient logistics support for enterprises seeking to expand into European markets. 

Global Times