On Wednesday, Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi held talks with Belgian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot.

Wang said that Belgium is a founding member of the EU and is located in the "heart of Europe". China and Belgium respect each other and trust each other, and have established a comprehensive friendly and cooperative partnership, becoming a stabilizing force in China-EU relations.

President Xi Jinping has emphasized that between China, Belgium and the EU, there should be more "building of bridges" rather than "building of walls". Under the current circumstances, China and the EU should further strengthen face-to-face exchanges, enhance mutual trust and eliminate misunderstandings. China hopes that Belgium's new government will continue to build bridges of dialogue, understanding and cooperation between China and the EU.

China is accelerating the establishment of a new pattern of high-level opening-up to the outside world, will further lower the threshold for market access, and will adopt more measures to facilitate exchanges between Chinese and Belgian people.

Wang stated that this year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the EU. China supports the process of European integration and hopes that the EU will view China's development and revitalization in a positive and friendly light and adopt a rational and pragmatic policy toward China.

Facing a turbulent and complex situation, China looks forward to strengthening strategic communication and coordination with the EU side, jointly upholding the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter, safeguarding the international free trade system, and defending international fairness and justice.

Prevot stated that China demonstrates remarkable vitality for development and is Belgium's most important trading partner. The high-quality bilateral relationship between Belgium and China has yielded fruitful results. Regardless of how the situation develops, Belgium is willing to remain China's friend and will continue to adopt a positive and constructive attitude to deepen cooperation with China, jointly create the future, and better support each other's development.

He thanked the Chinese side for implementing the visa-free policy for Belgian citizens and expressed the hope to further strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges between Belgium and China.

He said that Taiwan is part of China, that Belgium respects China's sovereignty, and reiterated that it will continue to adhere to the one-China policy. In the current complex and tense geopolitical situation, both the EU and China uphold multilateralism and the maintenance of international law, and Belgium looks forward to taking the new China-EU leaders' meeting as an opportunity to strengthen communication and cooperation and jointly address challenges.

The two sides also exchanged views on issues of common concern.

zhangzhouxiang@chinadaily.com.cn