China, Belgium sign MOU on direct equity investment fund

Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi and visiting Belgian visiting Crown Prince Phillipe on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on setting up a Belgium-China direct equity investment fund.

The fund is expected to help Chinese companies to invest in Belgium and other member countries of the European Union, according to a statement issued by Chinese Commerce Ministry.

Before the signing, Wu and Crown Prince Phillipe held talked for an hour in the Great Hall of the People.

Wu hailed the momentum of bilateral ties, particularly in trade.

In 2006, China-Belgium trade totaled 14.2 billion US dollars, according to China's Commerce Ministry.

Wu said China would like to cooperate more closely with Belgium.

Crown Prince Phillipe said his economic delegation had attended a string of business seminars and negotiations during the two-week tour, producing substantive results.

Crown Prince Phillipe was invited to China at the invitation of Wu. This was his fourth official visit to China.

The tour took him to Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning Province, Chengdu in southwest China, as well as Shanghai and HongKong.