On September 19, 2023, Minister Wang Zhigang met with the newly appointed Dutch Ambassador in Beijing, Andre Haspels. They had in-depth exchanges on topics such as the first China-Netherlands Joint Committee on Science and Technology Cooperation and priority areas for future cooperation.

　　Minister Wang Zhigang congratulated Ambassador Andre Haspels on his new appointment in China. He noted that China and the Netherlands celebrated the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at the ambassadorial level in 2022, and the Netherlands was the country of honor at the Shanghai Pujiang Innovation Forum. The two sides worked together to establish the mechanism of the China-Netherlands Intergovernmental Joint Committee on STI Cooperation. Minister Wang Zhigang emphasized that China stay committed to a mutually beneficial and win-win opening-up strategy, and hoped that industry, academia, and research institutions of both sides would deepen cooperation and contribute more scientific and technological achievements to the open and pragmatic comprehensive partnership between China and the Netherlands.

　　Ambassador Andre Haspels agreed with Minister Wang Zhigang by saying that China is a major partner of the Netherlands. The Netherlands prioritize its relations with China. The cooperation between the two sides in various scientific and technological fields enjoys solid foundation，abundant production and great potential. It is the right choice to strengthen STI exchanges and cooperation between China and the Netherlands in the future.

　　Dai Gang, Director-General, and Xu Jie, Deputy Director General of the Department of International Cooperation, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and Esme Cartens, Counselor for Education and Science at the Dutch Embassy in Beijing attended the meeting.