On the evening of September 19 local time, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrived in Brussels by special plane to attend the 15th China-EU summit and pay an official visit to Belgium.

In a written statement released upon his arrival, Wen said that since China and the European Union (EU) established comprehensive strategic partnership in 2003, their relationship has made remarkable progress and become one of the most influential bilateral relations in the world.

"I will exchange ideas with the EU leaders on China-EU relations and issues of common concern, make plans for strengthening their comprehensive strategic partnership and enhancing pragmatic cooperation," Wen said, adding that China and Europe are both in a critical period of development and the China-EU relationship is facing unprecedented development opportunities as the international situation undergoes profound and complex changes.

Noting that China attaches great importance to China-Belgium relations and regards Belgium as an important partner of cooperation in the EU, Wen said that with frequent high-level visits in recent years, the two sides have achieved great progress in various fields including politics, economy, trade and culture. "I expect to exchange views with Belgian leaders on further promoting China-Belgium friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation so as to work together to advance the two countries' relations and bring benefit to the two peoples," he said.

Senior officials from the EU and the Belgian government, Ambassador Wu Hailong, head of the Chinese Mission to the EU, and Chinese Ambassador to Belgium Liao Liqiang greeted Wen at the airport.