By Song Peijing

Special to the Tsinghua News Center

Netherlands Prime Minister Dr. Jan Peter Balkenende visited Tsinghua University on October 27. During his visit, Prime Minister Balkenende spoke at the Opening Ceremony of Energy for the Future: Sino-Dutch Seminar on Challenges and Opportunities in the Energy Domain.

In his speech, Prime Minister Balkenende congratulated Tsinghua University on its upcoming 100th anniversary in 2011. He discussed in his speech the challenges facing world economic development. He stressed the importance of international cooperation to meet the challenges, especially in the areas of energy and climate change.

Prime Minister Balkenende said, “The cooperation between China and the Netherlands is so very important. We can learn a lot from each other, and we must, because global problems demand globalization and global cooperation”. He praised China’s efforts to combat climate change and its pursuit of quality growth.

Tsinghua President Gu Binglin opened the Ceremony with a welcome address. Dr. Ni Weidou, a member of China’s Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the Ministry of Education’s Science and Technology Committee, and TU Delft President Dirk Jan van den Berg also delivered speeches at the Opening Ceremony.

Dutch Foreign Trade Minister Mr. Frank Heemskerk, Foreign Policy and Defence Advisor Karel van Oosterom, Dutch Ambassador to China Mr.Rudolf Bekink, China’s Ambassador to the Netherlands Mr. Zhang Jun, Director-General of the National Energy Bureau’s Department of Strategic Planning Mr. Jiang Bing as well as other friends and faculty members and students from China and the Netherlands also attended the Opening Ceremony in Tsinghua’s Main Building. Tsinghua Deputy President Chen Jining presided at the Ceremony.

The Energy for the Future Seminar, which concludes on October 28, was organized jointly by Tsinghua University, Delft University of Technology, and the Netherlands’ Embassy in Beijing.

(Photo by Guo Haijun)