Youth and Family Minister André Rouvoet has given a speech on Dutch youth policy at a regional conference on sexual health and rights in Beijing.

He owed his invitation partly to research findings by UNICEF and the World Health Organisation which suggest that Dutch children are among the happiest in the world.

Mr Rouvoet, a member of junior coalition partner the Christian Union, told the conference that parents in the Netherlands are free to choose how many children they have, and to set up their own schools. “The state does not prescribe what values should be taught,” he said.

He said he saw it as crucial that children who face problems should be helped within the context of the family or friends and relatives. He also stressed the importance of a balance between parenting and paid employment.

Mr Rouvoet’s speech at the Asia Pacific Conference on Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights came at the end of a four-day visit to China.