Premier Li Keqiang attended a joint press conference on June 29 along with Belgian Prime Minister Charles Michel and he hailed the fruitful growth achieved through bilateral cooperation.

China and Belgium have signed an array of cooperation deals worth more than 18 billion euro ($20 billion), the Premier Li Keqiang said.

The deals cover such areas as interconnectivity development, finance, telecommunications, microelectronics and education.

Li said he embarked on an in-depth exchange of views in regard to a wide range of topics, including international politics, diplomacy, cooperation on economy, trade and investment, and the significance of China-Belgium relationship and China-Europe relationship.

Cooperation between the two countries have witnessed fruitful growth, and as next year is the 45th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, both sides should take it as an opportunity to promote existing friendship and further boost bilateral relationship and cooperation, he said.

Both sides agreed on exploring the third-party markets, Li noted. He said that some developing countries are still undergoing the preliminary stages of their industrialization, and they need relevant equipment and production lines.

“China is entering its medium stage of industrialization, with the advantage of an abundant production capacity, whereas developed countries including Belgium are in post-industrial stage with advanced technologies and equipment,” Li said.

The trilateral cooperation will help adapt to the needs of developing countries for infrastructure construction, facilitate the improvement of quality and upgrading of Chinese equipment, help developed countries to expand exports and jointly promote the recovery of the world economy, he said.

Michel said he has reached a number of consensus with his Chinese counterpart with regard to further deepening bilateral relationship, strengthening economy and trade interactions as well as boosting cooperation on global issues such as climate change.

Bilateral cooperation is highly complementary, full of huge potentials, and capable of giving a powerful boost to the economic growth in either side as well as employment, Michel said.

Belgium is ready to become an important gateway for Chinese enterprises investing in Europe, and is willing to work along with China to utilize each other’s advantages, promote cooperation between China and Africa as well as the trilateral cooperation of Europe, China and Africa in order to ensure mutual benefit and a win-win partnership, Michel said.