The visiting Netherlands Minister for Foreign Trade Karien Van Gennip said in Beijing Monday that she hopes more Chinese will visit and invest in the Netherlands.

Van Gennip said that she hopes her visit will strengthen bilateral economic relations, help Dutch small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to match with Chinese companies and promote the Netherlands in China.

The minister said China has provided many opportunities for Dutch companies, but there are still problems such as Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) protection and the enforcement of the protection.

She said she participated Monday morning in the roundtable talks on IPR protection with some Chinese university professors and government officials.

The two sides agreed that China has made big progress in IPR protection and it is crucial to raise people's awareness of IPR protection, said Van Gennip.

At a news briefing, the China Industrial Economics Federation and the Amsterdam Port Authority signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) aimed at introducing Chinese name brands into the European market and building relations of strategic partnership.

China's Wuhan Boiler Company and NEM of Netherlands also signed an agreement of cooperation and technology transfer at the briefing.

Van Gennip headed a trade mission of more than 55 Dutch companies for a seven-day visit to China from January 16 to 22 at the invitation of Chinese Minister of Commerce Bo Xilai. Van Gennip will meet with Bo, and besides Beijing she will also visit Shanghai, Nanjing and Shenzhen.

Source:Xinhua