With the global financial crisis going on, both China and the Netherlands are faced with more challenges than ever. Recently, on issues of common interests and in particular on how to jointly tackle the crisis, Ambassador Zhang Jun kept hearing from and exchanging views with Dutch political circles and business community.

On the 18th of February, Ambassador Zhang Jun held talks with Minister for Foreign Trade Mr. Heemskerk. After briefing on the performance of Chinese economy as well as package measures adopted by Chinese government to deal with the crisis, Ambassador Zhang Jun emphasized that Sino-Dutch economic and trade cooperation had proven to be a prime example of win-win cooperation between nations. Complementing each other, China and the Netherlands enjoyed huge potential for furthering bilateral economic cooperation. The strengthening of bilateral economic ties not only served the interests of both countries, but would obviously help tackling the ongoing crisis. Speaking highly of the actions taken by Chinese government, Mr. Heemskerk exchanged ideas with Ambassador Zhang Jun on how to stabilize and push forward bilateral trade and two-way investments. First Vice-chair of the Standing Committee of Foreign Affairs and Defense of the First Chamber, Mr. Paul Russell, and, CEO of Royal Philips Electronics, Mr. Gerard Kleisterlee also attended.

On the 19th and 23rd of February, together with his colleagues from the Economic&Commercial Section and Science&Technology Section, Ambassador Zhang Jun paid visits to Damen Shipyards Group and IHC Merwede Group. As leaders in Dutch shipbuilding industry, these two enterprises both enjoyed good cooperation with Chinese counterparts. After briefly introducing Chinese government policies targeting expanding domestic demands and adjusting structure for a stable and relatively fast economic growth, Ambassador Zhang Jun asked about their business performance in China and future strategy. Together with company management team, Ambassador Zhang Jun shared his views on how to enhance Dutch involvement in China’s economic growth. “Faced with the grim world economic situation, both governments have taken effective measures to tackle the challenges. With the joint efforts from governments and enterprises, we feel confident of the stable development of our bilateral cooperation.” With appreciation of China’s reaction and willingness to deepen cooperation with Chinese partners, presidents of both enterprises expressed their confidence in the future of Chinese economy and the prospect of Sino-Dutch economic relation.

On the 26th of February, Ambassador Zhang Jun attended the 2009 Holland Flower Festival in Wervershoof and talked with local flowerbulb exporters. Dutch exporters expressed their ambitions of exploring Chinese market and showed their optimism on future growth. Ambassador Zhang Jun answered questions posed by the exporters and voiced his confidence of the even brighter future of bilateral trade in agriculture and horticulture sectors.