Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo has called for the expansion of relations with the Netherlands, China's "important cooperative partner" in Europe, during his visit to the northern European country on Tuesday.

Dutch Queen Beatrix (L) meets visiting Chinese top legislator Wu Bangguo (L) and his wife in Hague, the Netherlands, May 15, 2012. [Photo/Xinhua]

"The current bilateral ties between the Netherlands and China are experiencing their 'best time in history'. They have brought concrete benefits to the people on both sides and have contributed a lot to overall Sino-Europe relations," Wu, the chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, the nation's top legislative body, said as he arrived in Amsterdam, the first stop of his four-nation visit. The two-week tour, which began on Tuesday, will also take him to Croatia, Luxemburg and Spain.

The visit is the lawmaker's first to the Netherlands. It is the third trip in a month by a member of China's top leadership to the debt-stricken continent.

Vice-Premier Li Keqiang concluded a 10-day official tour to Europe on May 4, following Premier Wen Jiabao, who had highlighted China's confidence in the European economy during his stay. Both of the tours put trade and expanding opportunities for investment on top of the agenda.

Wu Jianmin, former Chinese ambassador to France, said the close visits of Chinese top leaders to Europe were uncommon but were a gesture suggesting a willingness to help the European countries, which are struggling with a debt crisis, by promoting mutual benefits.

Marking the 40th anniversary of China and the Netherlands establishing diplomatic relations, Wu said Sino-Dutch ties are now "standing on a new starting point". He hopes the visit can help inject new incentives into the relations, the top legislator told the Dutch Queen Beatrix.

"The Netherlands have come out at the front in terms of trade volume compared with other European countries. Exchanges in technology, culture and in other fields have also significantly improved over the past four decades," he said.

Making it a priority to seek face-to-face communication with leaders and people from all walks of life in the Netherlands, he said he hopes the trip can deepen political trust and promote pragmatic cooperation as well as cultural exchanges.

Zhong Shan, vice-minister of commerce who visited the Netherlands with the lawmaker, told People's Daily during Wu's stay that the two sides are expected to explore a new dimension of future cooperation while taking a retrospective look at the past.

The Netherlands is China's second largest trade partner and export market in the European Union. It is also China's third largest source country of foreign capital, with an estimated $11.9 billion in more than 2,600 projects across China, ranging from petrochemical processing and manufacturing to finance and logistics.

Sino-Dutch trade amounted to $68.2 billion in 2011, 21 percent up year-on-year, according to China's Ministry of Commerce. The year 2011 also saw China becoming the second largest source country of investment in the Netherlands, only next to the United States, with a 62 percent increase in direct investment.