China, Netherlands can learn much from each other

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said China and the Netherlands can learn from each other.

The Prime Minister said the two nations can learn a lot from each other in dealing with such social challenges as aging society, healthcare reform and others.

"These are the challenges that both our countries are facing, and we have discussed some of them with the (Chinese) president," Rutte said in an exclusive interview with Xinhuanet Saturday.

He said that the Netherlands has a lot to learn from what the Chinese leadership is doing right now, especially in the area of health reform.

"There are one area, heath, where I think we can learn from what you are doing here to implement reforms. We can learn, in our insight, in terms of what is working and what is not working," he explained.

Rutte added, "there are also some positive experiences" in the Netherlands for China to go by.

He explained in detail how "the neighborhood doctor-general practitioner" can save patients a lot of money, and how the "E-house" can improve the healthcare quality.

He stressed there are other areas including flooding control, water management, agriculture production and others where experience can also be exchanged.

Rutte arrived in Beijing Friday for a two-day visit.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Keqiang and top legislator Zhang Dejiang have respectively met him.