Gateway to Europe open for business

Over many decades, China and the Netherlands have maintained extensive and diverse economic cooperation, founded on trade promotion and cooperation. The Netherlands is China's second-largest trade partner in the European Union and trade between the two countries amounted to 39.5 billion euros ($43.25 billion) in 2013 and nearly 44 billion euros in 2014.

In line with the two countries' economic cooperation Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte and the Minister of the Environment Wilma Mansveld are currently visiting China with a business delegation comprising 50 companies.

The Benelux Chamber of Commerce helped to organize the trade dinner for the Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen, last year, and it serves as a reliable business platform for companies from both countries to do better business.

Dutch and Chinese businesses signed several contracts and cooperation agreements during Ploumen's visit. In total, 12 agreements worth at least half a billion euros were signed and it is expected that their value will continue to rise over the coming years.

Contracts have been agreed in a range of sectors including shipbuilding, telecoms and ice rink construction. One of the major deals, worth approximately 450 million euros, was between the Chinese technology giant SMIC and Eindhoven's ASML.

At the signing ceremony, Ploumen said: "The signing ceremony between SMIC and ASML marks the increasing cooperation between China and the Netherlands in the high-tech industry, and I sincerely hope that this continues to develop further."

Close collaborations between Dutch and Chinese cities are another example of how economic growth can be achieved by working together. Amsterdam and Beijing have enjoyed an official friendship since 1994.

Amsterdam Mayor, Eberhard van der Laan, said: "Amsterdam's friendship with Beijing and the strong relationship it has built up with companies such as Huawei, ICBC, and China Southern Airlines can directly aid Dutch businesses interested in the Chinese market."

"Their exports and the investment of Chinese companies creates jobs in the Netherlands and will enforce the image of Amsterdam as a good, possibly the best, gateway to Europe," van der Laan said.

Indeed, the Netherlands and particularly Amsterdam serve as a gateway for Chinese tourists going to Europe, with over 200,000 Chinese tourists traveling to the Netherlands every year.

Daily direct flights operated by KLM and China Southern Airlines connect six major Chinese cities with Amsterdam Schiphol Airport.

In recent years, KLM has launched three new flight services to China - to Chengdu in 2006, to Hangzhou in 2010 and to Xiamen in 2011.

This summer, the Chinese airline Xiamen Air will launch its first route to Europe and it has chosen Amsterdam to be the first destination, a choice that reinforces the position of the Netherlands as the gateway to Europe. The airline has signed a memorandum of cooperation with KLM and the city of Amsterdam in a bid to strengthen collaboration and accessibility between the Netherlands and China.

For the past four years, China has been the second-largest source of investment for the Netherlands. And last year, Chinese enterprises' investments in the Netherlands reached a record 1.1 billion euros, according to a report by the Netherlands Foreign Investment Agency.

Prime Minister Rutte's visit to China marks another chapter in the economic cooperation between the two countries, and it is another sign that the Year of the Goat will see Sino-Dutch leaping forward.

The author is the communication and business development manager at the Benelux Chamber of Commerce's Beijing office.

(China Daily 03/27/2015 page17)