Hu's visit fosters closer ties with Denmark

COPENHAGEN - Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao undertook a number of official engagements here Friday during his first state visit to Denmark.

President Hu Jintao and his wife Liu Yongqing are welcomed by the Danish Queen Margrethe II at the Royal Castle Amalienborg in Copenhagen, Denmark, on Friday. Lars Krab / Associated Press

The visit, the first by a Chinese head of state since the two countries established diplomatic ties 62 years ago, served to further advance the comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries.

It has also brought about fresh opportunities for cooperation, with a raft of trade deals being signed here between enterprises of the two countries.

Foster closer ties

On Friday, Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing paid a courtesy call to Denmark's Queen Margrethe II and her husband Prince Consort Henrik at Amalienborg Castle, the Queen's official residence.

During the meeting, Hu and the Danish royal couple discussed bilateral relations, agreeing to advance their comprehensive strategic partnership to a higher level.

Speaking of the long history of friendly exchanges enjoyed by the two peoples, Hu said the establishment of the comprehensive strategic partnership in 2008 had pushed bilateral relations to a new stage.

China, he said, attaches great importance to its ties with Denmark and is ready to expand friendly exchanges and cooperation on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit so as to further advance the China-Danish comprehensive strategic partnership.

The queen and the Prince Consort recalled their visit to China back in 1979, saying that China has made tremendous progress and remarkable achievements in development ever since then.

The relationship between Denmark and China has also come a long way and maintained a good momentum of development, especially after 2008 when the two countries established the comprehensive strategic partnership, said the queen.

After the meeting, Hu and his wife Liu Yongqing, accompanied by the Danish royal couple, took a tour of Copenhagen's picturesque canals and seaside waterfronts on board the royal yacht.

During the boat trip, Hu was briefed by Danish officials about Copenhagen city's system for cleaning its wastewater and sewage.

During a meeting between Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and his Danish counterpart Villy Sovndal, Yang pledged efforts to implement the consensus reached by the leaders of the two countries and expand their cooperation in depth and breadth so as to turn the initiatives put forward during the visit into tangible results.

Sovndal, for his part, said he believed Hu's visit will boost mutual understanding, expand mutual beneficial cooperation and advance China-Denmark ties to a higher level.

Promote cooperation

Hu's visit also brings closer economic and trade ties between the two countries as a raft of deals were signed between Chinese and Danish enterprises.

Chinese Vice-Premier Wang Qishan, who is among the entourage of President Hu, attended the signing ceremony of some 20 agreements on cooperation between Chinese and Danish companies. The value of the cooperative projects totalled $3.35 billion.

Speaking at the Chinese-Danish Conference on Business and Trade held before the signing ceremony, Wang urged both sides to further enhance cooperation in the areas of trade, investment, finance, infrastructure, tourism and navigation.

"Today, we celebrate the importance of trade between Denmark and China by signing a large number of agreements and contracts," he said, adding that the deals could foster stronger trade ties, stimulate economic growth and create new jobs.

Noting that China has become Denmark's seventh largest trading partner, and the most important one in Asia, Wang said the two sides have carried out fruitful cooperation in the areas of wind power, bio-chemicals, transport, logistics and processing of farm produces.

Two-way trade has been growing at an annual rate of 22 percent in the past decade, and the trade volume rose to nearly ten billion US dollars last year, he said.

Danish Crown Prince Frederick and Deputy Prime Minister Margrethe Vestager also witnessed the signing ceremony and attended the conference.

Chinese President Hu's visit to Denmark sent a clear signal to the business circles of the two countries to further strengthen cooperation, Crown Prince Frederick said.

He expressed the readiness to further deepen cooperation with China so as to achieve common prosperity and development.

Vestage said both countries are faced with the same opportunities and challenges. He called for companies of the two countries to deepen cooperation.

Hu arrived in the Danish capital on Thursday for a three-day state visit. From Denmark, He will travel to Los Cabos, Mexico, for the June 18-19 summit of the Group of Twenty (G20), which will address pressing issues affecting global economic growth and stability.