(Amsterdam, September 16th)

Excellency Mr. Zhu Yonglei, Vice Minister of China National Radio and Television Administration,

Mr. Wang Jiequn, Director-General, Beijing Municipal Bureau of Radio and Television,

Ms. Sandra den Hamer, Interim CEO, Netherlands Film Fund,

Dear friends, ladies and gentlemen,

A very good evening to you all.

It is really a great pleasure to attend the Night of Beijing.  

What a joy, to welcome such a high-level delegation, and so many business people from media companies of China, to the Netherlands.

Thank you: for participating the IBC; 

for organizing China Intl Broadcasting Industry Exchange Conference 2023;

and for organizing this event -- the Night of Beijing.

Over the past 3 years, in my interactions with Dutch friends, each and every time there was always this hard question: when China would lift its Covid controlling measures that made travel difficult?  

Now that we are out of the woods of the pandemic, no more restrictive measures. Everything is back to normal.

Many Chinese delegations, business people and tourists are coming to the Netherlands.  

So, now, it’s me to say to Dutch friends, please come and visit China!

There will be many big events, one after another, held in China for the rest of the year.

On September the 23rd, in Hangzhou, the Asian Games will start.

On October the 15th, in Guangzhou, China Import and Export Fair, also known as the Canton Fair, will open.

On November the 5th, in Shanghai, China Intl Import Expo will open.

On November the 23th, in Hangzhou, the Global Digital Trade Expo will open.

On November the 28th, in Beijing, China Intl Supply Chain Expo will open.

There are other annual media events like: Shanghai TV Festival, Sichuan TV Festival, China Content Broadcasting Network in April, Beijing Into Radia TV & Film Exhibition in August.

Welcome to China!

I wish to take this opportunity to assure that, my Embassy will provide all the necessary assistance to facilitate visa application, making it easier and faster. 

China is open to the outside world. Let’s resume visits, renew network.

We need to make up for the loss of in-person exchanges.

Dear friends,

It has been more than 400 years since our two peoples established contacts through the maritime silk road.

Last year, 2022, marked the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations at ambassadorial level between China and the Netherlands.

Our trade volume has grown from 69 million US$ in 1972 to over 130 billion US$ in 2022.

What a record!

Sino-Dutch relationship is defined, by President Xi Jinping and His Majesty King Willem-Alexander, as an open and pragmatic partnership for comprehensive cooperation.

Exchanges in the culture sector, and cooperation in the broadcasting industry, are an important part of this partnership. 

Today, if you ask a Chinese to say something about the Netherlands, what he or she knows about the Netherlands, he or she may say, first of all, semiconductor and ASML.

Then, some big names like Vincent van Gogh, and Robert Hans van Gulik.

Let me say a few words about Van Gulik, a famous Dutch diplomat and sinologist. Started in 1950, using Di Renjie the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty in China more than 1300 years ago as the protagonist, Van Gulik wrote detective novels titled "A Judge Dee Mystery", not only making "Judge Dee" the "Chinese Sherlock Holmes" in the minds of Westerners, but also deeply influencing the Chinese film and television industry.

Since the 1980s, "A Judge Dee Mystery" series have been adapted into TV series and movies many times, and they were box-office hits.

I wish to make a point that, while Van Gulik was a great sinologist, it was the TV series that made him a household name in China. Many Chinese are really amazed: how could a Dutch know China so well, so deep, more than so many Chinese intellectuals. 

Professor Thomas van Gulik, son of Robert van Gulik, is with us this evening. Professor, thank you for coming.

There were many other people and activities contributing to Sino-Dutch exchanges in the film and TV sector.

Documentary filmmaker Joris Ivens shot 9 documentaries about China in the last century.  

In 2008, China introduced a Dutch film for the first time—Paul Verhoeven's classic masterpiece "Black Book", which triggered a movie-watching craze among the Chinese audiences.

In 2015, China and the Netherlands signed a film co-production plan.

In 2019, the film titled "Prooi" entered the mainland of China. It achieved a box office success.

In the same year, China and the Netherlands launched their first joint film, "Kung Fu Lion", it was released early this year.

Here, I wish to highlight the technology cooperation.

Broadcasting, film and TV which provides wonderful audiovisual experience, were born and will continue to benefit greatly from tech advancement.

As Vice Minister Zhu said just now, the boundary of the industry is ever-expanding, thanks to the technology iteration and upgrade.

Intl cooperation is important in this regard.

I am happy to see many Chinese companies coming to the IBC.

I hope that the IBC will become even better, and that more and more Chinese participants will come.  

I hope people in the broadcasting technology industry of our two countries could enhance exchanges and expand win-win cooperation, bearing in mind that the combined population of our two countries are as strong as 1.417 billion people.  

This is not only for profit, but also for people-to-people connectivity. As a Chinese saying goes: "The relationship between countries lies in the mutual affinity of the people."

Let’s make the best use of the TV, films, broadcasting sectors and the new technologies, to bring our two peoples closer.

Are there challenges? Yes, of course.

Over the past three years, I have had good relations with the Dutch business; good working relations with the government, challenges with the parliament.

Like the Dutch, I am also direct -- Dutch direct.

Here is my forthcoming viewpoint:

We may not like-minded, yet we should be open-minded.

We may not love each other at this point, yet at least we need each other.

Let’s build trust, based on this mutual need and through enhanced dialogues.  

Dear friends,

The national day of China and the Mid-Autumn are just around the corner.  

I wish our bilateral relations could overcome difficulties and enjoy further development in the next 50 years.

Let’s cooperate. Let’s join hands.

Once again, I am so happy to come to this “Night of Beijing”, meeting with people from my home country, with Dutch friends, at this relaxing platform -- on Saturday.

A very good night to you all!

Thank you.