Pavilion for Dutch products opened in China
Chengdu, 2 November 2018 - The Chinese city of Chengdu has a Holland Pavilion since today. Entrepreneurs can present their products to Chinese importers. It helps them to exploit the export opportunities offered by the direct train connection between Tilburg and Chengdu. Director of logistics service provider GVT, Wil Versteijnen, deputy Bert Pauli and mayor of Tilburg, Theo Weterings, have opened the pavilion in Chengdu.
Chengdu is one of the largest logistics hubs in Asia. Thirty percent of all Chinese exports by train to Europe now go by rail between Chengdu and Tilburg. The frequency of the Chengdu-Tilburg Express could therefore increase to five times a week. The railway connection thus offers Brabant companies structural access to millions of consumers in China. The city of Chengdu alone is home to approximately the same number of people as the whole of the Netherlands.
Export promotion
The pavilion makes it easier for Dutch entrepreneurs to promote their products in China. In this way, it should bring together supply and demand. Four Dutch entrepreneurs will be the first to exhibit their products in the pavilion, including two companies from Brabant. Brewery Braxzz promotes alcohol-free speciality beer in China and Nurturebrands sells water with extra nutrients for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. The pavilion is also used to promote the region and it can become a place where people can work and where meetings can be held.
The Chengdu-Tilburg Express is the only direct train connection between the Netherlands and China, and is operated by GVT Group of Logistics in Tilburg and Chengdu International Railway Service. Chengdu is connected by rail to ten cities on the east coast of China. The train connection offers entrepreneurs in Brabant the opportunity to export their products relatively quickly and cheaply to a large part of China. Transport of goods by train is three times faster than by water and four times cheaper than transport by air. The train currently mainly transports car parts, milk powder, wine, beer and machines to China. In the future, this can be extended to include, for example, products for care for the elderly, for which there is a great deal of demand in China due to the ageing of the population.
Mission to China
The municipality of Tilburg and the province of Noord-Brabant visited Chengdu on 1 and 2 November to explore the possibilities for further logistic cooperation. One of the goals is to stimulate the sales of products of Brabant entrepreneurs. The pavilion should contribute to this. The Sino-Dutch initiative is still in development and would like to offer more entrepreneurs the opportunity to present their products.