ENTERPRISES in Shenzhen and the Netherlands have recently signed 20 cooperation agreements in the city.

    The agreements were signed during the visit of a Dutch trade delegation led by Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. The delegation consisted of more than 100 Dutch company representatives, according to a report in Saturday’s Shenzhen Economic Daily.

    Rutte said at a press conference Friday afternoon that Dutch enterprises are particularly interested in cooperation with high-tech enterprises in Shenzhen.

    The delegation visited leading enterprises in the city, including Huawei, DJI-Innovations and Shenzhen Energy Environmental Engineering Co. Ltd.

    Rutte said Huawei is known for its information innovation and it is one of the fastest-growing Chinese multinational companies in the Netherlands. DJI has a young leadership and boasts leading unmanned aerial vehicle technology. He sees the vitality and innovative spirit of Shenzhen in these enterprises.

    Dutch enterprises look forward to strengthening cooperation and exchange with Shenzhen enterprises to achieve a win-win situation, according to Rutte.

    He added that both the Netherlands and Shenzhen face challenges in fields like ecological protection, food safety and urban planning. The Netherlands is willing to provide its experience to find solutions to these issues, he said.

    Shenzhen has a good foundation to become an international city and the Netherlands is willing to help Shenzhen achieve that, Rutte said.

    Before coming to Shenzhen, the Dutch delegation, which is in Boao in Hainan Province to attend the ongoing 2015 Boao Forum for Asia, visited Shanghai.

    The Netherlands is one of China’s top three trade partners in Europe. The trade volume between the two countries reached 44 billion euros (US$48 billion) last year, the paper said.

    There are more 1,000 Dutch enterprises operating in China and the number is expected to grow. (Martin Li)