Belt and Road plan considered crucial link between Asia, Europe

Danish Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen has called China's proposed Belt and Road Initiative "a future dynamo" for growth and prosperity in Asia and Europe.

Ahead of his four-day visit to China that began on Tuesday, Rasmussen said in an emailed interview he would use his trip to further boost his country's relationship with China, pledging to participate in the Belt and Road Initiative.

"The Belt and Road Initiative is indeed a very interesting foreign policy strategy," Rasmussen said. "Further connecting Europe and Asia firmly through trade and bilateral cooperation can hopefully be a future dynamo for growth and prosperity for both continents."

President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and China's top legislator Zhang Dejiang are scheduled to meet or hold talks with Rasmussen, and will exchange views on bilateral ties and issues of common concern.

Rasmussen's visit is among the recent high-level exchanges between China and the Nordic countries. Shortly after Xi's visit to Finland in early April, Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg paid a visit to China to enhance relations.

Rasmussen visited China in 2010 during his previous term as Danish prime minister. His current term began in June 2015.

Rasmussen said he hoped the Belt and Road Initiative could provide economic stability and development for Central and South Asia - gateways between East Asia and Europe.

"This will be crucial for trade between the two biggest concentrations of economic power," he said.

The Danish prime minister also said his country - as one of the world's foremost shipping nations - has been engaged in linking the two continents for centuries.

This visit precedes the highly anticipated Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation on May 14 and 15 in Beijing. He said his country's representatives will attend and would "be happy to contribute" positively on political and business levels during the conference.

Rasmussen said China is Denmark's largest trading partner in Asia and his country was the first Nordic country to sign a comprehensive strategic partnership with China.

"We will now take our bilateral relationship to a new high," he said. "I am particularly pleased that we will launch our first Joint Work Program during my visit."

The program contains 58 joint cooperation areas by 2020 between 80 Chinese and Danish state institutions, he said. It will take cooperation among institutions on both sides a step further.

During his visit, the two countries will sign agreements to strengthen economic and trade cooperation, he said, and a Chinese-Danish Food and Drug Regulatory Cooperation Center will be launched that will help facilitate knowledge-sharing between public authorities in the two countries.

In terms of cultural and people-to-people exchanges, the prime minister said the two countries will sign an agreement that allows China and Denmark to work on jointly produced films.

[email protected]

(China Daily 05/03/2017 page3)