For a third time in less than five years time, the Dutch King and Queen are meeting with Chinese president Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan. After official mutual state visits in 2014 (Netherlands) and in 2015 (China), the royal couple arrived at Beijing airport on Wednesday morning for a personal meeting with the President and his wife.
Besides a meeting with Xi, Dutch King Willem Alexander and Queen Maxima will also meet the Chinese premier Li Keqiang. Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf reports that the royals and Xi will dine on a location near the Forbidden City on Wednesday night.
In a Chinese news article about the visit on Wednesday afternoon, Xinhua described the Dutch king as an “old friend” to China in its headline.
Chinese long-standing newspaper Guangming Online took the occasion of the visit to publish a long article featuring a biography of King Willem-Alexander.
Guangming Online published a biography of the King, featuring childhood photos with his parents. This photo features Prince Claus en Princess Beatrix with their sons Friso, Willem-Alexander and Constantijn, 1969.
Chinese state media outlet Xinhua states that the visit is expected to “enhance mutual trust and understanding in such fields as green finance and bilateral trade” and that it will “inject new impetus into the development of bilateral relations while elevating China-Netherlands cooperation in various fields.”
Xinhua also emphasizes that after the recent China visits of French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May, the visit is a major indication that European countries want closer and more practical ties with China.
Although further details of the meeting have not been revealed, Dutch media do report that the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Halbe Zijlstra, who also joined the royals, will speak to human-rights advocates in China during the visit.
While the 2015 visit of the King and Queen to China received ample attention on Chinese social media, this year’s visit, which is also less formal, has not attracted much comments on social media yet.
This time, the visit is short; Willem-Alexander will depart China on Thursday to join the Olympics in South-Korea. Maxima will join him a day later; she will first visit meet with Dutch entrepreneurs in China.
By Manya Koetse
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