Words are just as important as actions, says former Belgian prime minister and ex-president of the European Council

Herman Van Rompuy has served as Belgian prime minister and president of the European Council. In both capacities, he received Xi Jinping during his visits to Belgium and the European Union headquarters in 2009 and 2014, respectively. Xi also met with him either in Beijing or on other occasions before the veteran European politician stepped down from his political career in late 2014.

Of those meetings, Van Rompuy says he is keen to highlight two speeches that President Xi delivered in Europe.

The first one that impressed him was given by Xi at the College of Europe in the picturesque Belgian city of Bruges, where Van Rompuy is still teaching, when Xi wrapped up his first tour to West Europe as Chinese president in early 2014.

"In the speech, Xi explained China's long history of civilization and the impressive achievements made by strategic partners China and the European Union," Van Rompuy recalls in Brussels during an exclusive interview following his retirement.

Xi has proposed that both sides forge a partnership from peace, reform, growth and civilization, which have already become guidelines of their bilateral relationship. In this sense, Van Rompuy says, Xi's speech was "politically symbolic". For politicians, he adds, "words are equally as important as actions".

During Xi's visit to the European Union headquarters before giving the speech, both China and the bloc were planning to find synergies between the Belt and Road Initiative and European development programs. In late 2014, after Donald Tusk replaced Van Rompuy, both sides started to forge synergies between the initiative and a multibillion-euro European investment plan.

"China is very good at long-term plans, and we hope that this initiative can be very successful in developing the bilateral relations," Van Rompuy says.

Xi's speech advocating open economies and free trade and the fight against protectionism was the second one that Van Rompuy wants to highlight. "We were much impressed by President Xi's speech in Davos, which showcased China's engagement to an open economy in a globalized world," says Van Rompuy.

Looking forward, Van Rompuy says China and the European Union are strategic partners, but that doesn't mean the two sides cannot have differences.

"In this pure relationship, we can explain to each other about the differences we have," he says.

Van Rompuy says the European Union is the world's biggest open economy, and he is convinced that the union's recent move to unify the investment screening system at the European level was not meant to target China. "Our position is that in order to keep this openness on the global scale, we need this level playing field," he says.

"Otherwise, we will lose support for open trade and investment within the European Union, and we need the support of our citizens. This is nothing to do with protectionism, and we don't target China."

Van Rompuy says a stable European Union is in the interests of China.

He also recognizes China's efforts announced in its market-oriented reform package at the third plenum session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee, and he expects China to further showcase its determination to deepen its reform efforts at the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, which opened on Oct 18.

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(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/20/2017 page8)