Virtual trade mission China – Circular smart solutions construction and infrastructure
June 13, 2022
On the occasion of the 50 years of diplomatic relations between the Netherlands and China, the Netherlands Minister of Foreign Affairs, in cooperation with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), and the Netherlands Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management, organized a virtual trade mission to China from May 9th to 11th.
Headed by State Secretary Vivianne Heijnen and Director for Foreign Economic Relations, Hanneke Schuiling, Dutch companies active in circular construction, infrastructure and offshore wind energy were introduced to the Chinese market, local stakeholders, new sectoral developments and potential business partners.
“It’s important that we, the Netherlands and China, keep engaging with each other, to better understand and learn from each other, and to be able to tackle global challenges together successfully.”
Wim Geerts, Netherlands Ambassador to China and Mongolia
Sino-Dutch collaboration tackling global challenges
In China and the Netherlands, the circular economy is expected to play a crucial role in reaching ambitious climate neutrality goals. Thus, expert speakers from China and the Netherlands addressed these issues by analyzing sustainable infrastructure from several angles: What policies do China and the Netherlands have? What are the major projects from the private sector? What are the latest developments on circular infrastructure in both countries?
Circular solutions in the fields of construction and infrastructure
After the official kick-off session, separate thematic webinars were held. During the offshore wind energy webinar, there was a strong focus on innovation and new areas such as floating wind. Meanwhile, in the circular construction webinar, the importance of circularity in the infrastructure and buildings sector was the main theme. Sustainability is a priority for the Netherlands and China, and the webinars underlined that cooperation is crucial to developing innovative solutions to shared challenges.
The online session was moderated by Freek van Eijk, Director of Holland Circular Hotspot, accompanied by a panel that consisted of Pieter van Os, Program manager of CIRCO international and Arnoud Passenier, Strategic International Advisor of the Netherlands’ Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management.
As both Dutch and Chinese companies have expertise in these sectors, there is a lot of potential for cooperation. To explore such a possibility, the trade mission included tailormade matchmaking in collaboration with our local matchmakers, such as Jiangsu Renewable Energy Industry Association (JREIA) and Nanjing Constitution Waste Recycling Association.