Sino-Dutch ties highlighted at trade meeting

China has urged the Netherlands to foster a fair, transparent and predictable business environment for Chinese companies investing in the country and maintain the stability of semiconductor industrial and supply chains, the Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on Wednesday.

Commerce Minister Wang Wentao called for efforts to properly resolve business disputes between the two sides, when co-chairing the 18th meeting of the China-Netherlands Joint Economic and Trade Committee on Tuesday in Beijing with Sjoerd Sjoerdsma, Dutch minister of foreign trade and development cooperation.

Their meeting comes at a time when semiconductor cooperation has become one of the most closely watched developments in China-Netherlands economic relations.

The two sides have faced growing economic and trade frictions in recent years following the Dutch government's export restrictions on advanced chipmaking equipment, and its measures affecting Nexperia, an overseas subsidiary of Chinese company Wingtech Technology.

The Dutch official's visit also follows a key consensus reached in a meeting in Brussels last week between China and the European Union on the new characterization of China-EU economic and trade relations. During the meeting, China and the EU agreed to be each other's stable and balanced key trading partner.

On Tuesday, Wang told Sjoerdsma that China hopes "the Dutch government will play a positive and constructive role within the EU, encouraging the EU to work with China in the same direction and manage differences through dialogue and consultation".

According to the ministry's statement, China is ready to work with the Netherlands to deepen cooperation in areas including advanced manufacturing, technological innovation, the green transition and modern services.

Sjoerdsma said that the Netherlands is willing to further strengthen policy communication and coordination with China, deepen trade and investment cooperation, provide a stable and transparent business environment for Chinese companies investing in his country, and promote the steady development of EU-China and Netherlands-China relations.

Zhou Mi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, said that despite a broad foundation for industrial cooperation, China and the Netherlands still face differences in sectors such as semiconductors.

"If specific differences are properly managed through dialogue, it will help strengthen business confidence, stabilize industrial and supply chains and create a more predictable environment for companies in both countries," Zhou added.

zhongnan@chinadaily.com.cn