City goes Dutch with Netherlands
By Julia Hollingsworth |
April 30, 2013, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
DUTCH biscuits, toddler crawling races and body painting were on offer as Shanghai was given a taste of the Netherlands during Dutch Days celebrating and displaying the cultural and commercial power of the Dutch in Shanghai.
Last year's Dutch Week has been replaced by 10 days of Dutch-themed events ranging from a scholarly conference on Robert van Gulik, who immortalized a semi-fictional detective, Judge Dee, from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), to TEDx-style talks on science and technology.
But Dutch Consul General in Shanghai Peter Potman said the "piece de resistance" was a Dutch village in Jing'an Park on Sunday and yesterday, complete with food, Dutch products and toddler crawling to promote Dutch baby formula and baby buggies with Dutch design. The event gave the average Shanghai resident a chance to experience a bit of the Netherlands.
"We want to reach the largest possible number of people in the city and leave them with the impression of the Netherlands as a country with high-quality products and as a country that produces safe and healthy foods, a source of great design, and as a major player in the world of transportation," said the Netherlands' top diplomat in the city.
This year marks the 41st anniversary of China and Netherlands diplomatic relationship. Potman's relationship with Shanghai began a bit later, in 1989, when the Pudong New Area was merely a glimmer in the eye of Shanghai's town planners.
"There were hardly any cars, and I remember there were traffic jams of pedestrians on the streets, and I was stuck. I was completely amazed of course, as a young diplomat."
But just as China itself has changed, the Netherlands' relationship with China has changed and matured.
"China, and certainly Shanghai, is no longer the sweatshop of the world. This is the entry point to the market," said Potman. "Now China is the market."
Over the past five to 10 years, he said, Shanghai has become a hub for finance, logistics and creativity. A wide variety of Dutch businesses are doing well in Shanghai, and many multinational companies have their headquarters here.
"China is of increasing importance to the Netherlands. Because most of our trade we do with our neighboring countries, within a radius of 500 kilometers from Amsterdam, China is growing fast - it's already in the top 10 countries that we import from."
And Shanghai is important because it is at the forefront of Chinese business.
There are about 2,000 Dutch companies in China, of which about 500 are in Shanghai, said Potman. The figures are impressive. In total, the trade between the Netherlands and Shanghai was US$10.3 billion last year, and the cumulative value of 570 Dutch investment projects in Shanghai was worth more than US$4 billion.
Lot of capacity
Netherlands' trade spans a broad range of business interests in China, from transport, to food products, to high-end designer products. But there's always room for improvement.
Potman would like to see more small-to-medium-sized businesses establish themselves in Shanghai, perhaps by joining forces with each other. He thinks there is a lot of capacity for Netherlands expertise in Chinese agro-food, horticulture and in health and anti-aging treatments.
He's also passionate about increasing Chinese tourism to the Netherlands. It's a new area from 10 years ago, but already tourist numbers are on the rise. In 2011, there was a 25 percent increase of Chinese tourists to the Netherlands from the previous year, with 157,000 visitors up from 126,000.
"Tourism is a huge market, and it links to all sorts of other things. Because it links to our own brand and it links to designer products and it links to high-end shopping."
Another thing he's working on is increasing the number of Dutch students coming to study in China. Currently, there are 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese students studying at colleges and universities in the Netherlands, but he wants more Dutch students to stay longer in China. The exchanges are positive for the relationships between the two countries.
"We assume that every Chinese student who comes back is a little ambassador for the Netherlands. At least we hope. I talk to many alumni, and they all keep very good memories of their time."
But while the Chinese-Netherlands relationship is strong, there is still a big gap between Chinese exports and Dutch imports into China.
"It's still unbalanced because this (exporting to China) is a fairly recent phenomenon … I see a lot of opportunities in increasing exports. We just have to make our products better known."
In addition, few Chinese companies have been successful in the Netherlands due to cultural and structural difficulties. But Potman thinks it is worth Chinese businesses working on this, as Netherlands is a gateway to Europe for Chinese businesses.
The Netherlands' influence in Shanghai is likely to increase as Potman expects the number of Dutch to continue growing. Currently, official figures put the number of Dutch people in China at 4,000, of which about half are living in Shanghai.
Potman expects Dutch people escaping the depressed economy in Europe to come to Shanghai seeking opportunities.
"Shanghai is a magnet for young people. It's the principle: if more people go, more people go."
His hopes for the coming year, when they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the consulate in Shanghai, are simple. "What I hope is that we can continue along the positive lines that we have."
Last year's Dutch Week has been replaced by 10 days of Dutch-themed events ranging from a scholarly conference on Robert van Gulik, who immortalized a semi-fictional detective, Judge Dee, from the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907), to TEDx-style talks on science and technology.
But Dutch Consul General in Shanghai Peter Potman said the "piece de resistance" was a Dutch village in Jing'an Park on Sunday and yesterday, complete with food, Dutch products and toddler crawling to promote Dutch baby formula and baby buggies with Dutch design. The event gave the average Shanghai resident a chance to experience a bit of the Netherlands.
"We want to reach the largest possible number of people in the city and leave them with the impression of the Netherlands as a country with high-quality products and as a country that produces safe and healthy foods, a source of great design, and as a major player in the world of transportation," said the Netherlands' top diplomat in the city.
This year marks the 41st anniversary of China and Netherlands diplomatic relationship. Potman's relationship with Shanghai began a bit later, in 1989, when the Pudong New Area was merely a glimmer in the eye of Shanghai's town planners.
"There were hardly any cars, and I remember there were traffic jams of pedestrians on the streets, and I was stuck. I was completely amazed of course, as a young diplomat."
But just as China itself has changed, the Netherlands' relationship with China has changed and matured.
"China, and certainly Shanghai, is no longer the sweatshop of the world. This is the entry point to the market," said Potman. "Now China is the market."
Over the past five to 10 years, he said, Shanghai has become a hub for finance, logistics and creativity. A wide variety of Dutch businesses are doing well in Shanghai, and many multinational companies have their headquarters here.
"China is of increasing importance to the Netherlands. Because most of our trade we do with our neighboring countries, within a radius of 500 kilometers from Amsterdam, China is growing fast - it's already in the top 10 countries that we import from."
And Shanghai is important because it is at the forefront of Chinese business.
There are about 2,000 Dutch companies in China, of which about 500 are in Shanghai, said Potman. The figures are impressive. In total, the trade between the Netherlands and Shanghai was US$10.3 billion last year, and the cumulative value of 570 Dutch investment projects in Shanghai was worth more than US$4 billion.
Lot of capacity
Netherlands' trade spans a broad range of business interests in China, from transport, to food products, to high-end designer products. But there's always room for improvement.
Potman would like to see more small-to-medium-sized businesses establish themselves in Shanghai, perhaps by joining forces with each other. He thinks there is a lot of capacity for Netherlands expertise in Chinese agro-food, horticulture and in health and anti-aging treatments.
He's also passionate about increasing Chinese tourism to the Netherlands. It's a new area from 10 years ago, but already tourist numbers are on the rise. In 2011, there was a 25 percent increase of Chinese tourists to the Netherlands from the previous year, with 157,000 visitors up from 126,000.
"Tourism is a huge market, and it links to all sorts of other things. Because it links to our own brand and it links to designer products and it links to high-end shopping."
Another thing he's working on is increasing the number of Dutch students coming to study in China. Currently, there are 3,000 to 4,000 Chinese students studying at colleges and universities in the Netherlands, but he wants more Dutch students to stay longer in China. The exchanges are positive for the relationships between the two countries.
"We assume that every Chinese student who comes back is a little ambassador for the Netherlands. At least we hope. I talk to many alumni, and they all keep very good memories of their time."
But while the Chinese-Netherlands relationship is strong, there is still a big gap between Chinese exports and Dutch imports into China.
"It's still unbalanced because this (exporting to China) is a fairly recent phenomenon … I see a lot of opportunities in increasing exports. We just have to make our products better known."
In addition, few Chinese companies have been successful in the Netherlands due to cultural and structural difficulties. But Potman thinks it is worth Chinese businesses working on this, as Netherlands is a gateway to Europe for Chinese businesses.
The Netherlands' influence in Shanghai is likely to increase as Potman expects the number of Dutch to continue growing. Currently, official figures put the number of Dutch people in China at 4,000, of which about half are living in Shanghai.
Potman expects Dutch people escaping the depressed economy in Europe to come to Shanghai seeking opportunities.
"Shanghai is a magnet for young people. It's the principle: if more people go, more people go."
His hopes for the coming year, when they will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the consulate in Shanghai, are simple. "What I hope is that we can continue along the positive lines that we have."
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