Rutte to Visit China Next Month

The Netherlands government announced that Prime Minister Mark Rutte will officially visit China in November. The prime minister will visit China on 15-16 November 2013 along with Lilianne Ploumen, the minister for foreign trade and development cooperation. Ploumen will travel to China a day earlier with a Dutch trade delegation. Rutte will meet Chinese president Xi Jinping and premier Li Keqiang. Mark Rutte / Flicker Their visit's main purpose will be to reaffirm the good bilateral relations between China and the Netherlands and further strengthen diplomatic and economic ties. The Netherlands is China's second biggest trading partner in the EU. In 2012, trade between the two countries was worth €39.5 billion and is still growing.