¡¡THE HAGUE, Dec. 10 (Xinhuanet) -- Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's trip to the Netherlands is "very fruitful," Chinese Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing told reporters on Friday.

    During his stay in The Hague, Wen attended the 7th China-European Union (EU) summit and held talks with Dutch leaders on ways of promoting bilateral relations in an round way, said Li, who accompanied the premier on the trip.

    During his visit to the Netherlands, the Chinese premier also met with Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard and they had a friendly conversation.

    The 7th China-EU summit aimed at strengthening the comprehensive and strategic partnership between China and the EU was successful, Li said.

    He said the China-EU relationship has been developing smoothly since the comprehensive strategic partnership was established in October last year.

    Both China and the EU are facing new development opportunities.China's economy has maintained rapid and healthy growth, while theEU's integration process is going deeper after its new commission and parliament were elected and it realized the biggest ever enlargement, Li added.

    Reviewing the fruitful cooperation between the two sides over the past year, Wen and the EU leaders had an indepth exchange of views to expand and deepen China-EU friendly cooperation and reached wide-ranging consensus. The Hague summit will give fresh impetus to the enrichment and healthy development of the China-EU partnership, Li stressed.

    On the two joint declarations issued and a series of documents signed after the summit, Li said the international community has attached great importance to the joint declaration on the 7th China-EU summit, pointing out that the China-EU relationship has entered a new stage of development.

    The Joint Declaration on Non-Proliferation and Arms Control affirmed that China and Europe are important strategic partners innon-proliferation and arms control, demonstrating that consensus is steadily growing between the two sides over strategic issues, Li said.

    The conclusion of accords by China and the EU on science and technology, customs and peaceful use of nuclear energy shows that there is great potential for cooperation between the two sides in these areas and bilateral exchanges and cooperation in this regard will be greatly boosted, he said.

    At The Hague summit, mutual understanding and mutual trust have been further enhanced through frank exchanges of views, Li said.

    The Chinese premier urged the EU side to seriously address China's important concerns, saying China hopes to see an early lifting of the EU's arms embargo against China and recognition of China's full market economy status at an early date.

    The EU affirmed its political resolve to end the embargo and pledged continued efforts in this regard. The EU recognized China's achievements scored in its market economy development and promised to make vigorous efforts to solve the problem.

    On the Taiwan issue, the European side reaffirmed its one-Chinapolicy and pledged its stance will not change.

    Li also said Wen's visit opened up new channels of communication between China and the EU.

    Prior to the China-EU summit, experts and scholars from both sides held a round-table meeting, discussing ways and measures to boost the China-EU cooperation.

    Addressing the China-EU business summit, the Chinese premier highlighted the strategic issues concerning the development of China-EU ties.

    European media said the meetings between Chinese and EU leadersare becoming more pragmatic.

    On Wen's official visit to the Netherlands, Li said it has helped promote the all-round development of Sino-Dutch relations, which have shown good momentum of growth.

    The Chinese premier proposed plans to strengthen political mutual trust and further expand economic cooperation. The Netherlands side expressed its strong wish to expand cooperation with China.

    During his meeting with Queen Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, the Chinese premier said China is ready to work together with the Netherlands to further expand and deepen the friendly relations and cooperation between the two countries. The queen expressed the hope that the two countries will continue efforts to deepen their trade and economic ties.

    Wen's visit to the Netherlands is of profound importance to thelong-term and stable development of bilateral ties, Li added.

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