President Xi Jinping and his wife recently met with Belgian royals during their Chinese visit. (Photo : Reuters)
With Belgium's King Philippe and Queen Mathilde's recent visit to the country, the Sino-Belgian ties have seen an opportune time to strengthen and get a boost.
Receiving the Belgian royals on their ninth visit to China are President Xi Jinping and wife Peng Liyuan.
During the visit, China has expressed that Belgium is welcome to join the unfolding of the breakthrough trade-promoting scheme, Belt and Road Initiative.
The country also appreciated the European nation's willingness to partake in Asia's infrastructure construction. It furthermore hoped that the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would prioritize encouraging Belgium to be a member.
In April, AIIB has finalized the list of the 57 founding members of the financial institution. The roster includes a number of western European countries, however, excluding Belgium.
President Xi made his remarks before he and the Belgian leader witnessed the inking of 12 strategic agreements, which focus on wide-ranging areas for cooperation like space, science and technology, education, customs and nuclear fuel.
Moreover, Xi urged both nations to continue their goal of enhancing the logistics industry and the cross-border e-commerce relations between Europe and China.
The Chinese president also emphasized other areas that the countries could work upon, including environmental technologies, high-end manufacturing and sustainable development.
For his part, King Philippe said that his country would maximize its advantages and serve as a means by which China could make a foray into Europe. Belgium houses the European Union headquarters.
The Belgian king also lauded the Belt and Road Initiative, citing that it would make an effort to link the scheme with the investment plan for European nations.
Belgium and China have been enjoying a fruitful 44 years of diplomatic relations. Belgium is currently the country's sixth most important trading partner in EU. Its 2014 trade volume figure reached $27.3 billion, a 7.3-percent increase from 2013.
