Queen Maxima Visits China

As a special advocate of the United Nation’s Secretary-General for Inclusive Finance for Development (UNSGSA) and at the invitation of the Chinese government, Queen Máxima visited China from November 24 to November 28.

On Monday November 24, The Queen met Mr. Alain Noudehou, the UN coordinator in China at the UNDP office in Beijing. In the evening the Queen attended a working dinner at the residence of the Dutch Ambassador in China, Mr. Aart Jacobi. Present at the dinner were representatives of telecom companies, banks and lenders.

The second day in China started with a visit to the Central Bank, the People’s Bank of China. Queen Maxima was received by Mr. Zhou Xiaochuan, the Bank’s Governor, she also met the President of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, Mr. Shang Fulin. Then the Queen attended a meeting with officials of the Bank of China, the theme was the Chinese plans to make financial services more accessible to poor people.

In the evening, The Queen along with representatives of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the People’s Bank of China, attended a dinner hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the State Guest House dinner.

On the third day of the visit, Queen Maxima visited the Peking University’s National School of Development in Beijing where she was greeted by Honorary Dean of the National School of Development Mr. Justin Yifu Lin.

Queen Maxima gave a speech, in which she stressed the importance of the modern technology and innovation: “I believe that technology and innovation can play an even greater role in bringing financial services to China’s unbanked and under-banked, especially in rural areas”. She also added that for the success of the financial inclusion “a whole range of actors need to work together: ministries, the Central Bank, supervisors, commercial banks, mobile network operators, the broader private sector, including payment service providers, and knowledge institutions such as your school”.

In the afternoon, Queen Maxima visited two rural villages in the North of China: Lou Manchu village in Hebei province and the Dongxintun village. In those villages the Queen met families and farmers that are working with the help of the microcredit.

On November 27, Queen Maxima went to Hangzhou in southeast China to visit the China’s biggest and most famous Internet company: Alibaba. At the headquarter of the company, she met with the entrepreneur who has created the company in 1999, Mr. Jack Ma. Alibaba who is a Chinese e-commerce company that provides sales services via web portals and electronic payment services.

On the fifth and final day of her visit, Queen Maxima attended a press conference at the office of the UN Development Programme UNDP. The Queen said that during these five working days she has learned about the developments of China in the accessible financial services and she was impressed by all the work done by China.

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Tagged China, Education, Inclusive Finance, Patronage, President Xi of China, Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, Technology, United Nations, Working Visit.

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