2015年CRI Dutch King's China Visit Signifies Closer China-EU Ties: Expert

As part of his 5-day stay in China, Netherlands King Willem-Alexander and his wife will make stops in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou.

He is also due to travel to Shaanxi to tour through the Loess Plateau while making a stop in the city of Yan'an, which the Communist Party of China maintained its wartime headquarters.

The King's time in Beijing with Xi Jinping is the Chinese President's 2nd brush with the European monarchy 1 this month, having just returned from the UK where he and his wife were the guests of Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace.

Professor Feng Zhongping, European Studies expert with the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, says the meetings with Europe’s royalty 2 have significant value from a public relations perspective.

"Even though these monarchs 3 don't have much political power in their country, their role still conveys an important symbolic 4 meaning. Not only have the British and Dutch royal families reached out to the Chinese government, other monarchs from Sweden and Belgium have also either visited China or invited Chinese leaders to their countries. I think this is a sign European countries are racing 5 to forge closer ties with China."

Apart from the Dutch King's time in China, German chancellor 6 Angela Merkel is due to make a stop in China this coming week.

French President Fran?ois Hollande is due to make a trip to China in early November.

Professor Feng Zhongping says these trips are a good opportunity for the Chinese side to make Europe more comfortable with China.

"The high-level reciprocal visits are an opportunity to build more political trust between state leaders. Only by promoting political trust, economic and trade cooperation, as well as people-people exchanges, can we guarantee a closer China-EU relationship. Right now, China-EU cooperation is on a fast track. It's the result of strong efforts from both sides."

The Dutch King is here in China as part of a broader delegation 7 from the Netherlands, which includes government officials and business leaders.

A number of Dutch companies, including KLM, Shell and the Port of Rotterdam have representatives on the trip.

Its expected several business deals in areas such as agriculture, finance, sports and tourism will be finalized 8 as part of Willem-Alexander's time in China.

His time in Shaanxi is being highlighted as one area of significant interest, as its expected the Chinese side will be pressing for more cooperation from the Dutch delegation when it comes to the environment.

Shaanxi is on the edge of the Gobi Desert, and is an area the government has been focused on in its attempt to stop soil erosion and help clean up the air.

It's also an area where Xi Jinping spent 7-years as a "zhiqing," or educated youth, in the 1960's and 70's.