Belgian ambassador hails eco-conservation success

Bruno Angelet, the Belgian ambassador to China, said he admires China's ecological conservation achievements and hopes the two countries will give full play to their respective strengths and coordinate efforts in addressing global challenges.

"China has a lot to offer in terms of landscapes and biodiversity. The Chinese government and its people attach great importance to the protection of the ecological environment and China has also introduced a series of important policies in this regard, which I deeply admire," he said.

Speaking to China Daily in Beijing, Angelet said that facing enormous challenges such as the destruction of biodiversity that knows no borders, all countries have a shared responsibility to make sure that the planet is viable for future generations.

"Major forces like China and Europe should particularly find out how we can work together to reduce the risks," he said.

According to the ambassador, Belgium and China have accumulated rich experience in ecological conservation and the collaboration on giant panda research between the Pairi Daiza zoo in Belgium and the Chinese government is a good example.

Ten years ago, the zoo received giant pandas Hao Hao and Xing Hui as part of a bilateral cooperation agreement. Now the pair of giant pandas and their three cubs born there have become the star attractions for visitors of Pairi Daiza, which is also home to other endangered animals, including golden takins and Pere David's deer.

As the top envoy of Belgium in China, Angelet said he hopes to further advance cooperation by facilitating scientific research such as gene studies related to other endangered species in order to provide the theoretical foundation for better protecting them.

Besides biodiversity conservation, the veteran diplomat, who arrived in Beijing in August for his current position, has made it one of his essential tasks to promote people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

"The more people of China and Belgium can understand and appreciate one another, the more the world will be a better place," Angelet said.

As Chinese people are traveling more to Europe, he said: "It's time that we improve our capability to deliver faster and more visas.

"I'm working very hard on this," he added.

Promoting exchanges

The ambassador said economic cooperation is another work focus for him because Belgium, which has land, sea and air connectivity with China across the board, is the most important logistics country between China and Europe.

"A lot of trade between Europe and China is coming through Belgium. We hope in the future there will be more European cargoes gathered to be transported to China," he said.

Belgium is China's seventh-largest trading partner in the European Union, while China is the third-largest trading partner for Belgium outside the EU as of 2022. Statistics from the Foreign Ministry showed that the trade volume between China and Belgium in the first 11 months of last year exceeded $36.8 billion.

"I would like to be very active in these areas and work with my Chinese counterparts to ensure that we can have more cooperation," Angelet added.