Belgian PM is sole European leader invited to Boao Forum

Kris Peeters, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium (middle) Qu Xing, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium and Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC) have jointly sent the drumming-up messages at a Chinese lunar new year reception in Brussels on Tuesday. [Photo by Fu Jing/chinadaily.com.cn]

Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel is so far the only European leader attending the Boao Forum in China in March, and top officials of both sides are urging investors to trust Belgium as one of the world's safest destinations, and to stop feeling pessimistic about China amid its development model shift.

Kris Peeters, Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium, Qu Xing, Chinese Ambassador to Belgium and Bernard Dewit, chairman of the Belgian-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (BCECC) joined forces to send the upbeat messages at a Chinese lunar new year reception in Brussels on Tuesday.

Ambassador Qu said China's invitation to attend the Boao Forum at the end of March signalled Chinese commitment to developing closer high-level relationship with Belgium, following efforts in 2014 and 2015.

The Boao Forum organises high-level meetings for government, businesses and academics, mainly from Asia, to discuss pressintg issues for the region.

"Prime Minister Charles Michel is invited as the only European leader to attend the Boao Forum and there, he has chances to present the opportunities in Belgium to the business leaders, not only from China but also from the rest of the world," said Qu.

Qu said Michel will also pay an official visit to China and President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang are scheduled to meet him, while attending the 2016 Annual Conference of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which will be held in Boao, Hainan province from March 22 to 25.

Belgium is still on the third level of safety alert in the aftermath of Paris attacks last November and it is reported that the top priority of Belgian leaders this year is to convince other leaders that their country is still one of the safest places in the world.

China underlined its trust in Belgium with its support for Chinese lunar new year celebrations in Brussels on February 6. The Chinese New Year Parade was the first of its kind in Brussels. Thousands of Belgians and Chinese joined dozens of formations including dragon dancers, lion dancers, folk dancers, wushu martial arts practitioners, Peking opera performers and a fashion show.

In his address, Peeters said Chinese-Belgium relations hit new heights in 2015 and in June last year, King Phillippe paid a state visit to China, where he met several key leaders.

"It is not only one of our king's first state's visit abroad, it was also a very successful one with more than a hundred agreements were signed at that moment of that period. This is testimony to the excellent relations between Belgium and China," said Peeters.

Peeters said Belgium is commited to join the Asia Infrastructural Investment Bank and it is exploring beneficial projects where it can bring value with its specific expertise and assets.

"Bilaterally we look forward to the results of official visit of our Minister Charles Michel to China at the end of March," said Peeters.

He said Michel's visit will be very important and both sides will jointly celebrate the 45th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Belgium in October. "I hope these highlights will be very, very important to our bilateral trade," said Peeters.

When opening the reception organized by Dewit's chamber, he said there were a lot of reasons to be optimistic about China.

"China's economy is growing at a fast pace, the people's income is increasing, the service sector is booming and the Chinese tourists are increasingly traveling abroad," said Dewit.

"So we should stop feeling pessimistic about China while it is successfully making the transition to a consumer economy."

Dewit also said Belgium also remains an attractive place to invest, a safe place to do business and a great place to live. "Statistically, we are one of the safest countries in the world," said Dewit.

Gao Shuang contributed to the story.

To contact the reporter: fujing@chinadaily.com.cn