Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo became the latest European leader to travel to Beijing and meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, with the pair pledging to boost cooperation and oppose decoupling.

Xi encouraged De Croo, whose government now holds the rotating six-month presidency of the European Union, to "play a positive role" in "fostering progress in China-EU relations in the new year".

On the sidelines of his meetings with officials, though, De Croo warned Chinese leaders to stop interfering in European politics - remarks taken to refer to a scandal involving a far-right Flemish politician who is suspected of being on the payroll of China's intelligence services for years.

"I hope that we have the opportunity to discuss a number of topics between our countries, on our positions related to human rights ... our position related to the respect, and 100 per cent respect, of each other's political systems - and respecting that without interference," De Croo told reporters in Beijing between meetings with Premier Li Qiang and Xi. The remarks were first reported by Politico.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang escorts De Croo in a welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks on Friday. Photo: Xinhua alt=Chinese Premier Li Qiang escorts De Croo in a welcoming ceremony in the Great Hall of the People prior to their talks on Friday. Photo: Xinhua>

Earlier this week, Belgian authorities began a criminal investigation into Frank Creyelman, a former member of the Vlaams Belang party, who is alleged to have received money from Chinese authorities in exchange for working to influence Europe's policies towards China. Creyelman was expelled from the party in December.

However, a readout carried by Chinese state media made no mention of this tension; instead the report heralded the "great importance of the development of China-Belgium relations".

Xi told De Croo that "China and Belgium are both beneficiaries of economic globalisation and share common interests in resisting protectionism and safeguarding free trade", according to Xinhua.

"China appreciates De Croo's open opposition to the decoupling or severing of industrial and supply chains on many occasions, welcomes Belgian companies to invest in China," Xi continued, asking the Belgian to ensure Chinese businesses were not discriminated against in Belgium.

The Belgian government did not immediately issue a statement concerning the meeting.

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, De Croo wrote: "Engaged openly with President Xi Jinping today. China and the EU remain important partners in tackling many of the global challenges.

"Belgium promotes its interests and values in the world. Thank you to our Chinese hosts for the respectful and constructive dialogue."

Earlier on Friday, Beijing opened its pork market to Belgian products after a five-year ban related to African swine fever. This had been a reported priority for De Croo ahead of the trip, on which he was joined by a small business delegation, including Boerenbond, a farmers' association in the country's Flemish and German-speaking regions.

Engaged openly with President Xi Jinping today. China and the EU remain important partners in tackling many of the global challenges. Belgium promotes its interests and values in the world. Thank you to our Chinese hosts for the respectful and constructive dialogue. pic.twitter.com/bIGPrW63iG

- Alexander De Croo 🇧🇪🇪🇺 (@alexanderdecroo) January 12, 2024

The meeting happened amid heightened trade tensions, with EU-China commerce in decline.

Data released by China's customs authority on Friday showed a 7.1 per cent contraction in overall trade between the two markets over the course of 2023, compared with a year earlier.

On January 24, Brussels is to release further details on its economic security strategy, a package of policies intended to bolster its supply-chain resilience and wean Europe off dependencies on China.

The European Commission, the bloc's secretariat, aims to install a screening tool for outbound investments into China for hi-tech sectors like semiconductors, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

According to the Chinese readout, De Croo said that "Belgium opposes decoupling or severing of industrial and supply chains".

The day before the Taiwan elections that have been earmarked as one of the geopolitical events of the year, De Croo, the leader of Belgium's complex coalition government, told Xi that "Belgium will continue to abide by the one-China policy", Xinhua reported.

A string of EU leaders have visited Beijing since German Chancellor Olaf Scholz broke the post-Covid deadlock in November 2022. Reports suggest that Xi will start reciprocating the visits this year.

He is expected to be in Paris in the spring to commemorate the 60th anniversary of Sino-Franco relations, but there has been no official confirmation of his travel plans.

Belgian PM promises to scale up support for Ukraine

On Tuesday, 9 January, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had a telephone conversation with Alexander De Croo, Prime Minister of Belgium, which holds the presidency of the Council of the European Union in the first half of 2024.

The Belgian prime minister noted that his conversation with Zelenskyy took place ahead of the EU summit on 1 February, where a decision on a four-year €50 billion programme to support Ukraine is expected to be made.

"The EU will further scale up its support to Ukraine. We will continue bringing our economies and people closer while Ukraine progresses on its accession path. We stand with you, now and in the future," De Croo wrote.

The President's Office reported that Zelenskyy and De Croo discussed support for Ukraine in the context of the Belgian presidency of the EU Council, bilateral defence cooperation, and the implementation of the Ukrainian Peace Formula.

As reported, Belgium took over the six-month presidency of the Council of the European Union from Spain on 1 January 2024.

The Belgian and Ukrainian foreign ministers had previously discussed the fact that Ukraine's EU membership will be among the priorities during this period.