Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen visited China from 11 – 13 March, during which he had several meetings with high-level officials in China, including with his Chinese counterparts on foreign affairs and commerce.
The Minister met with Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi and showed great interest in the “Belt and Road Initiative”, and China’s reform agenda after the “Two Sessions” in March and before the 19th Party Congress in autumn this year.
In a meeting hosted by his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi, the two sides exchanged their opinions on a broad variety of topics from the Sino-Danish Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and the Sino-Danish Joint Work Program, and on further bilateral cooperation over regional affairs including EU-China relations and DPRK nuclear resolution.
Wang Yi noted that Denmark was one of the earliest western countries which established diplomatic relations with China. At present, China-Denmark relations are in the best period of history, facing important development opportunities, stated Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People’s Republic of China. President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen sent congratulatory messages to the opening ceremony of China-Denmark Tourism Year 2017. And in 2018, the two countries will embrace the 10th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership.
“China is willing to, together with Denmark, take this as an opportunity to further align development strategies, deepen cooperation in economy, trade, investment, green development, connectivity, innovation, entrepreneurship, medical care, elderly care, water resource management, modern agriculture and other fields, and enhance exchanges in culture, tourism, regional affairs and other issues, so as to elevate China-Denmark comprehensive strategic partnership to new highs,” the ministry stated.
Anders Samuelsen expressed that in attaching great importance to developing its relations with China the Danish government firmly upholds the one-China policy and respects China’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Denmark is highly honoured to be the first EU member to co-chair the tourism year activity with China. The Danish side looks forward to taking this as an opportunity to propel Denmark-China two-way tourism, and is willing to provide more convenience for Chinese citizens to apply for Danish visas. Denmark highly values the “Belt and Road” initiative put forward by China, and hopes to, together with China, make positive contributions to connectivity of the Eurasian continent, reported China’s foreign ministry.
Minister Samuelsen also had a formal meeting with Fu Ziying, Vice Minister of Commerce, on the Sino-Danish Joint Economic Committee, in which topics including maritime, bilateral investments and intellectual property rights protection were discussed.
He also unveiled official Danish Pavilions on Alibaba’s Tmall Global and Fliggy platforms, and witnessed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aimed at promoting Chinese tourism to Denmark.
The launch of the two “Danish Pavilions” in Hangzhou on Alibaba’s B2C platform Tmall Global and its travel service platform Fliggy allows 21 Danish brands to offer authentic consumer goods of Danish lifestyle and food as well as getting to Denmark.
“More and more retail sale is today happening online and in China more than anywhere – it is therefore important that the Danish Foreign Ministry can also help Danish companies’ success in this particular area. With the opening of an official Danish pavilion on China’s leading e-commerce marketplace Tmall Global, we hope to draw attention to Danish products,” said Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen.
In another event, the Minister witnessed the signing of the MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) between the Royal Danish Embassy and China’s biggest online review service Meituan-Dianping.
The MoU is the latest move in a series of promotions to attract more Chinese tourists to Denmark in the China-Denmark Tourism Year 2017. According to the MoU, recommended places of interest across Denmark will be listed on the website and mobile App platforms of Meituan-Dianping.
“To better help Chinese tourists enjoy Denmark, we are looking at the consumer habits in China, and it is very important to be on the digital platforms that Chinese citizens use. Therefore, we have signed this agreement with Meituan-Dianping,” said the Minister.
“We will deliver better content about Denmark as well as Danish places of interests, including restaurants, museums and hotels to Chinese consumers on these platforms.”
Sources: Embassy of Denmark in China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People’s Republic of China
