China hopes that Belgium will play an active and constructive role within the European Union (EU) in facilitating the proper handling of EU-China economic and trade differences through dialogue and consultation, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in Beijing on Thursday.
Wang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, made the remarks while holding talks with Belgium's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxime Prevot in Beijing.
Highlighting the China-Belgium all-round friendly cooperative partnership, Wang said the two sides share extensive common interests as they both advocate political settlement of disputes through dialogue and upholding international law.
China is willing to, together with Belgium, uphold mutual respect, seek common ground while managing differences, maintain close dialogue and communication, enhance mutual understanding and trust, strengthen people-to-people and cultural exchanges, deepen practical cooperation, and jointly elevate China-Belgium relations to a new level, Wang added.
The two sides exchanged views on international and regional hotspot issues of mutual concern. Wang expounded China's principled position, and Prevot appreciated China's efforts to help ease regional tensions and its commitment to resolving issues through dialogue, expressing Belgium's willingness to maintain close communication with China.
Stressing that Belgium-China ties are more important than ever, Prevot said Belgium firmly adheres to the one-China policy and abides by relevant UN resolutions.
On economic and trade issues, Prevot said Belgium does not agree with protectionism and is willing to strengthen communication and dialogue with China in a positive, open and constructive manner to deepen mutually beneficial cooperation.
Prevot said Belgium is willing to uphold multilateralism, safeguard international law and play a positive role in promoting the healthy development of EU-China relations.
China eyes managing EU-China trade differences through dialogue, consultation
The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at around 1.25 percent after concluding its two-day monetary policy meeting on Friday.
The widely expected decision came after the central bank raised the key rate by 0.25 percentage points to a 31-year high of 1.25 percent at its previous policy meeting in September.
In its quarterly economic outlook report released after the meeting, the BOJ said that with the policy interest rate now higher than in the past, it is important to examine how financial conditions change under such circumstances.
The BOJ also said that Japan's underlying inflation has "generally" reached its 2 percent price stability target, nearly 14 years after the goal was set as part of efforts to end decades of deflation.
At a post-meeting press conference, BOJ Governor Kazuo Ueda said the central bank's monetary policy will increasingly focus on keeping underlying inflation firmly anchored around 2 percent, signaling that the BOJ could raise rates further to prevent price increases from overshooting the target.
The BOJ cited higher prices of crude oil, semiconductors and other items, as well as the yen's depreciation, among the factors currently pushing up prices and likely to keep doing so for some time. It said it will closely monitor the impact of the situation in the Middle East, global demand related to artificial intelligence, and foreign exchange rate movements on Japan's economic activity and prices.
In the outlook report, the BOJ raised its core consumer price inflation forecast for fiscal 2027 to 2.6 percent from 2.4 percent, while lowering its real GDP growth projection to 0.7 percent from 0.8 percent.
The BOJ first adopted its 2 percent inflation target in January 2013, initially aiming to achieve it in about two years.
In April that year, under then-Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, the central bank launched an aggressive monetary easing program, but the target remained out of reach, with the BOJ repeatedly pushing back the timeline.
Japan's recent inflation has been fueled largely by external factors such as higher energy prices, and analysts said sustained wage growth would be key to creating a virtuous cycle of rising wages and prices.
The BOJ has one more policy meeting this year, scheduled for Dec. 17-18, at which markets increasingly expect another rate hike.
Japan's central bank keeps interest rate unchanged
