On September 28, H.E. Ambassador Zhang Jun and Mme. Tian Liying held a grand reception at the Embassy to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. Around 600 guests attended the reception, among whom Mr. Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mme. van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs, Mr. Heemskerk, Minister of Foreign Trade, Mr. de Vries, State Secretary for Defense, Mr. Cohen, mayor of Amsterdam, Mr. Aboutaleb, mayor of Rotterdam and other VIPs from Dutch central and local governments, businesses, industries and academia, diplomatic corps, heads of international organizations and international judicial organs, representatives of overseas Chinese, and Dutch and Chinese media were present.

Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E.Mr.Maxime Verhagen attends the reception

Minister of Economic Affairs, H.E.Mme. Van der Hoeven attends the reception

Ambassador Zhang delivered a welcome remark, looking back the glorious path taken and great achievements made by China in the last 60 years, expressing his sincere appreciation for the understanding and support from governments and peoples around the world for China's development, and stressing that China would continue to follow the peaceful development, pursue the win-win strategy of opening-up, commit itself to the tackling of international affairs and the addressing of global challenges such as financial crisis and climate change in a responsible and composed manner, strive for the building of a harmonious world and promote lasting peace and common prosperity. Ambassador Zhang also highly appraised the strong momentum for the Sino-Dutch cooperation in the fields such as politics, economy, science and technology and culture in the recent years, highlighting that the Netherlands had become not only an important partner of China but also a positive force in maintaining the healthy and stable development of Sino-EU relationship, and the trustworthy bilateral relationship between the two countries would have an even broader prospect. (For full text of Ambassador Zhang Jun's welcome remark, please click: http://www.chinaembassy.nl/eng/xwdt/t616006.htm)

Ambassador ZHANG Jun delivers welcome remarks (source: CRI)

H.E. Mr. Verhagen, Minister of Foreign Affairs delivered a speech on behalf of the Dutch government, congratulating Chinese government and Chinese people on the 60th anniversary of the founding of the PRC and giving his blessings to the local Chinese communities for the Chinese national day and the mid-autumn festival. Verhagen said, China, as a nation possessing a five-thousand-year civilization, had impressed the world with its achievements in the past 60 years during which China had developed into one of the largest economies of the world. He was delighted to see China take an active role at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh and was very encouraged by President Hu Jintao's statement on climate change at the United Nations. "It shows that China has not only become one of the world's leading nations, but is also taking on the responsibilities that come with such a role", Verhagen said. He was also satisfied with the broad and open relationship with China and stressed that the economic interdependence offered great opportunities and cooperation based on equality and mutual respect in areas such as politics, economy, culture, human rights and defense would be further enhanced. He hoped that both sides would work together for a better, more just world. H.E. Mr. Freeman, deputy Director-General of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), read the congratulation letter from the Director-General Mr. Pfirter to Premier Wen Jiabao, highly commending the important role China had been playing in the international affairs.

Minister Verhagen delivers a speech at the reception (source: CRI)

Deputy Director-General of OPCW Mr. Freeman reads congratulation letter from the Director-General Mr. Pfirter to Premier Wen Jiabao

H.E. Mme. van der Hoeven, Minister of Economic Affairs, said in an interview that her recent visit to China impressed her much with the fast development of China's green industries, which would provide more opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation. She expected that, through joint efforts, the Netherlands would become the No. 1 trade partner of China among the EU countries. H.E. Mr. Heemskerk, Minister of Foreign Trade, said in an interview that the bilateral trade has brought job opportunities and voluminous investments to the Netherlands and created a win-win situation. He was confident that the Netherlands would continue to play its unique role as the gateway to Europe and bring the Sino-Dutch and Sino-EU trade relationships to a higher level.

Minister of Foreign Trade H.E.Mr.Heemskerk at the reception	State Secretary of Defense H.E.Mr.De Vries at the reception
Mayor of Amsterdam Mr. Job Cohen at the reception	Mayor of Rotterdam Mr. and Mrs. Aboutaleb at the reception

Guests expressed their good wishes for China and Chinese people. They also uttered their appreciation for the achievements China has made since the reform and opening-up policy was introduced, and expected the deepening of cooperation in all areas between the two countries.

The photo exhibits displaying China's achievements played on the big screens and the folk costumes show caught the eyes of the guests. They also enjoyed the beautiful Chinese folk music performed by Chinese artists. They were amazed by China's development and were informed with the colorful and inclusive Chinese culture shared by the multi-nationalities of the Chinese people. Some guests wrote down their best wishes on the comment books.