On March 22 local time, President Xi Jinping arrived in Amsterdam to pay a state visit to the Netherlands at the invitation of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands, starting his European tour.

When Xi Jinping's special plane entered the airspace of the Netherlands, the fighter jets of the Royal Netherlands Air Force ascended to escort.

At around 12:30pm local time, Xi Jinping's special plane landed at the Amsterdam Schiphol Airport. Xi Jinping and his wife Mme. Peng Liyuan walked down the ramp and received warm welcome from King William-Alexander and Queen Maxima. A 21 gun-salute was sounded.

William-Alexander held a grand welcoming ceremony for Xi Jinping at the airport. The two heads of state stepped on the reviewing stand together and the military band played the national anthems of both countries. Xi Jinping, accompanied by William-Alexander, inspected the guard of honor. He shook hands and exchanged greetings with Foreign Minister Frans Timmermans and other officials from the Netherlands, and introduced to William-Alexander the delegation members.

Xi Jinping said, my visit this time marks the first one of the Chinese President to the Netherlands. The Netherlands is also the first stop of my European tour. On behalf of the Chinese people, I hereby extend the sincere greetings and best wishes to the peoples of the Netherlands and of the European countries.

Xi Jinping pointed out, the Netherlands is China's important cooperative partner in Europe. Hope that through this visit, both countries could strengthen political mutual trust, push forward practical cooperation and deepen the friendship between the two peoples. I hope this European tour will tie together the past and the future, to deepen cooperation, and to comprehensively upgrade China-Europe relationship.

Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu, Yang Jiechi and other delegation members arrived by the same plane.

H.E. Chen Xu, Chinese Ambassador to the Netherlands, greeted the delegation at the airport.

During his stay in the Netherlands, Xi Jinping will attend the third Nuclear Security Summit (NSS)in the Hague at the invitation of Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. He will state China's Approach to Nuclear Security. During the Summit, Xi Jinping will meet with the state leaders of some other countries. Following that, Xi Jinping will pay state visits to France, Germany and Belgium, and visit the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Headquarters in Paris and the European Union (EU) Headquarters in Brussels.