Finance
Dutch PM raised ASML in talks with China's Ding
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on January 28, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 27, 2026
Dutch PM Dick Schoof discussed ASML and trade with China's Vice Premier Ding, focusing on export restrictions and the importance of China as a trade partner.
AMSTERDAM - Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof held "critical conversations" with visiting Chinese Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, he said on Friday, including discussions on human rights and on semiconductor equipment supplier ASML.
The Dutch government has introduced progressively tighter restrictions on exports of ASML's chipmaking tools to China, one of its biggest markets, under pressure from the United States - a policy that Beijing has objected to.
Schoof told reporters his meeting in The Hague this week with Ding had been mostly positive and he had accepted a reciprocal invitation to travel to China later this year.
"China is an extremely important trade partner, particularly for the Netherlands, and that means you have to take that into account in all your meetings," Schoof said.
Separately, Schoof said the Dutch government did not expect a change in policy from U.S. President Donald Trump on semiconductor equipment exports - and that the Netherlands decides its own export policies - but that the two countries remain close allies.
"We have to wait for what the American government comes forward with," Schoof said, adding that his government has had contacts with Trump administration officials "at various levels".
China's foreign ministry on Thursday said Ding had told Dutch dignitaries that China wants to work with the Netherlands to ensure global supply chains run smoothly.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Barbara Lewis)
The main topics included human rights and semiconductor exports, particularly concerning ASML's chipmaking tools.
The Dutch government has implemented progressively tighter restrictions on exports of ASML's chipmaking tools to China under pressure from the United States.
Schoof emphasized that China is an extremely important trade partner for the Netherlands, which must be considered in all meetings.
Schoof stated that the Dutch government does not expect a change in policy from U.S. President Donald Trump regarding semiconductor equipment exports.
China's foreign ministry indicated that Vice Premier Ding expressed a desire to work with the Netherlands to ensure that global supply chains run smoothly.
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