Wang: Free trade benefits all countries

Foreign minister meets with Dutch leaders during 5-nation European trip

China and the Netherlands should uphold multilateralism and play an exemplary role in maintaining free trade, staying open to each other and advocating fair competition at a time when multilateralism is being challenged, State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.

In his meeting with Dutch Foreign Minister Stef Blok in The Hague on Wednesday, Wang said that most members of the international community support multilateralism, an indispensable rule for most countries' survival, especially medium-sized and small ones. He added that the world would slip back into the grasp of "the law of the jungle" without multilateralism.

The Netherlands has stood for free trade and China has benefited from free trade, Wang said, so the two countries should work together to promote reform of the World Trade Organization and help the WTO continue to play its role as the bedrock of the free trade system.

Also, China will open up its economy at a higher level and stands ready to share the opportunities of its market with all other countries, he said.

Being open to the outside world is not only the "founding principle" for the Netherlands but also a policy that China has always followed, he said, adding that staying open to each other is key for the common development of both countries.

Wang also expressed his hope that all parties will stick to the principle of fair competition and let markets play a decisive role in the allocation of resources so that companies of all countries will enjoy a business climate that is fair, just, open and nondiscriminatory.

Blok said relations between the Netherlands and China are "open" and "maintaining a strong momentum of cooperation", and that the Netherlands wants to keep the momentum of high-level exchanges and deepen cooperation in various fields.

Wang also met with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte on Wednesday.

Describing ties between the two countries as "mature" and able to "withstand the test of trials and tribulations", Wang said China hopes to advance mutually beneficial cooperation with the Netherlands and help revive the global economy. China is happy to see the Netherlands playing a bigger role in the European Union and the world, he said.

The Netherlands is the second leg of Wang's five-nation European trip, which began on Tuesday in Italy. There he met with Italian Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio and spoke on the phone with Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, who was not in Rome.

Wang later traveled to Norway and is scheduled to go to France and Germany as well.