Deals worth 18b euros agreed at Li's meeting with Belgian PM

China and Belgium sign an array of cooperation deals worth 18 billion euros during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Belgium, June 29, 2015. [Photo/Xinhua]

China and Belgium agreed to deals worth 18 billion euros on Monday covering finance, telecommunications, technology and education, following the first meeting between Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel in Brussels.

The two also agreed to combine China's competitiveness in equipment manufacturing and Belgian advantage in science and technology to develop the market in Africa, moving a step closer to Li's ambition to tap overseas demand and fuel domestic economy by carrying out global industrial capacity cooperation.

According to the agreements, China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd will help upgrade local telecommunications infrastructure and China will set up another two Confucius schools in Belgium, which already has four.

IZP Technologies Group, a leading big data processing company which is recently licensed to set card organization in Europe, will issue cross-border bank cards in Belgium, with which businesspeople can save transaction cost by trading directly between RMB and euro without going through US dollar.

Li said although his visit to Belgium is short, he has talked "thoroughly and candidly" with the Belgian PM, touching not just on bilateral trade but also climate change and the joint development of a third market.

He said China will improve interconnectivity with Belgium via land, sea and air and turn the country into an important logistics center between China and Europe.

The African market, as well as others still at the initial stage of industrialization, needs China's cost-efficient equipment and industrial streamlines, he said. Meanwhile, Belgium's advanced technologies also fit the requirement such as energy conservation in those markets.