How is the Dutch economy?

The Netherlands market characteristics

1, market characteristics :

The Netherlands domestic market is limited, but the re-export market is very broad, the amount of goods absorbed. Dutch imports of goods in 60% of the direct marketing of other countries, 20% of the local processed and then exported, imported products accounted for only about 20% of domestic sales. Market structure is characterized by a few dozen large multinational companies, such as Royal Dutch Petroleum, Akzo? Nobel Group, DSM Chemicals, Unilever, Philips, Duff Trucks, etc.; these companies are well capitalized, technologically advanced, and have strong product competitiveness, as well as broad sales channels and extensive international sales networks. Dutch small and medium-sized companies are also very active and oriented to the international market.　

2, foreign economic and trade relations:

The Netherlands is a member of the European Union, and its main trade target is other EU member states. The Netherlands 75% of goods and services trade is carried out between the EU member states,

respectively accounted for 66% of Dutch imports and exports and 79%, of which trade with Germany accounted for 25% of imports and exports and 30%. In the American market to the United States as the main trading partner; in the Asian market to Japan, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea as the main trading object.

3, the main import and export commodities:

The Netherlands is a small country, poor natural resources. In addition to natural gas and a small amount of oil, almost no natural resources. Most of the raw materials needed for industrial and agricultural production need to be imported. Therefore, raw materials and energy products constitute the main imports of the Netherlands. In addition to this, the Netherlands also imports considerable quantities of oil and fat crops, as well as chemical products and transportation equipment. Apart from natural gas and agricultural products, the Netherlands' main exports are: chemical products, food processing machinery, electrical and electronic products, machinery products, manufactured goods, port equipment and dredgers.

Important supporting factors for the rapid development of the Dutch economy

The Dutch economy is characterized by a predominantly export-oriented economy. The industrial sector is complete, with highly developed industries, agriculture and services. Social and economic relations in the Netherlands are stable, with the government, enterprises and labor unions consulting regularly and ****working together for the prosperous development of the economy. The following areas are important support for the rapid development of the Dutch economy:

Trade country: The Netherlands pursues a free trade policy, and the trade environment is very good. With a highly developed foreign trade system and a small domestic market, the Dutch economy has always had a strong international orientation. By virtue of its superior geographic location as the "Gateway to Europe", convenient transportation facilities and a perfect financial services system, the Netherlands has become the largest trade re-export country in Europe. The total volume of foreign trade ranks eighth in the world. According to the EIU forecast, the Netherlands will become the best place in the world to do business and invest in the next five years. Half of the Dutch economy is dependent on trade, with exports of goods and services amounting to approximately 55% of GDP. According to the WTO's Global Merchandise Import/Export Country/Region Rankings, the Netherlands ranks eighth in terms of import and export trade.

Industrial powerhouse: Dutch industry is characterized by internationalization, and the main industrial sectors are chemicals, food processing, electronics, metal manufacturing and processing, shipbuilding, etc. The Netherlands is the largest exporter of natural gas in Western Europe. It is the largest natural gas exporter in Western Europe. Famous large multinational corporations are: Shell Oil Company, Unilever, Akzo. Nobel, Philips, ING, etc., ranking in the top 50 of the world's top 500 companies.

Transportation power: the Netherlands has a highly developed land, water and air transportation network, distribution capacity, communication systems and perfect service system, the Netherlands traffic in all directions, air, sea, inland waterways, highways, railroads constitute an all-round three-dimensional transportation network. The Port of Rotterdam is the world's largest port, with an annual throughput of more than 300 million tons. Amsterdam Schiphol Airport is one of the three largest cargo airports in Europe, and Amsterdam International Airport is the fourth largest passenger and cargo air terminal in Europe. The Dutch river fleet accounts for 53% of the traffic on the Rhine and Maas rivers; road transport accounts for 27% of Europe's inland mobile trucks. There is quick and easy direct access to more than 300 cities throughout Europe, as well as fast access to the Middle East and Africa. The Netherlands is home to 535 of Europe's 955 distribution centers.

Agricultural powerhouse: only 5% of the population is in agriculture. The Netherlands is the world's third largest exporter of agricultural products, after the United States and France. Flower exports monopolize 70% of the global market, the Netherlands is known as Europe's "vegetable garden", vegetable exports ranked first in the world, potato seed exports, dairy production is located in the world's first. The Netherlands has a limited land area, 20% is reclaimed from the sea, but agriculture is characterized by intensive management, the use of high-tech production and modern management, to bring high-yield, high-quality, high value-added agriculture.

Water conservancy power: the Netherlands is low and flat, a quarter of the land below sea level. Its enclosure of the sea to create land and stop the sea project for the world's most. Thirties, that built the famous 30-kilometer-long Sud Sud Sea dam. Since 1958, the implementation of the investment of 30 billion guilders dam "Delta" project and cost "billion marks" of removable flood control dams. The Netherlands spends about 4.5 billion dollars a year on water investment, nearly 300 dollars per capita, one of the world's largest countries.

Financial and insurance services powerhouse: The Netherlands is also known for its financial and insurance industries. ABN AMRO (ABN AMRO), the Netherlands International Group (ING GROUP), Rabobank and Agricultural Bank of the Netherlands is the Netherlands famous four major banks, are among the world's largest 25 banks, the obligation of activities around the world. Dutch AEGON insurance company is the world's third largest insurance company.

The leading country in science and technology: The Netherlands is an international leader in environmental technology, energy technology, information technology, bioengineering and materials technology, and water engineering. The Netherlands has an active technology policy, and the country invests 10 billion guilders a year in scientific research.

"Gateway to Europe": Rotterdam, the world's largest port, is located on the North Sea coast, the Rhine River and the delta of the Maas River, is located near the mouth of the Rhine River, known as the "Pearl of the Rhine". Gateway to Europe". The unique geographical location and the well-connected inland transportation network give Rotterdam the status of the world's largest port. Every year, the Port of Rotterdam has about 30,000 ships from all over the world calling at the port, and more than 500 regular flights to more than 1,000 ports around the world. Rotterdam is the industrial center of the Netherlands, as well as a commercial (the second largest business district after Amsterdam) and transport center.

Rotterdam's large radius, with 160 million European consumers within a 500-kilometer radius, means that Rotterdam serves a huge market with a combined purchasing power of $800 billion. This is unique in the world.

The Dutch are used to frugality and practicality. Consumers are accustomed to centralized purchasing and free shopping, so supermarkets and chain stores are common shopping places for the Dutch. Consumers like to buy new styles of products with moderate prices, and are quick to change.

China's trade relations with the European Union and the Netherlands

Europe is a unified market with high population density, strong purchasing power and the highest market value. The EU published the "Long-term Policy on China-Europe Relations" and the "New Strategy for Cooperation with China" in 1995 and 1996, which raised the expansion and development of economic and trade cooperation relations with China to a strategic level.

Europe is China's third largest trading partner. 2002, bilateral trade amounted to 86.8 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 17.8% compared with 2001, of which China exported 48.2 billion U.S. dollars. China's exports mainly include: textile and clothing, shoes, bags, toys, daily necessities, radios, combo stereos, pharmaceuticals, plastic products, coke, tools, steel, sausage, lighting fixtures and so on. The EU is now China's top investor (in terms of actual inputs), top technology supplier, third largest trading partner (after Japan, the US and Hong Kong) and second largest export market for mechanical and electrical products (after the US). If the economies of China and the European Union do not reverse course, total bilateral trade is expected to exceed $110 billion by 2005, based on the growth rate of China-EU trade in recent years.

As mentioned above, the Netherlands is the gateway to Europe and it has become the preferred place for businessmen from all over the world to develop the European market. The Netherlands is also the European end point of the Second Eurasian Continental Bridge (starting point of China's Lianyungang), the hub of the two markets of Europe and Asia.

The Netherlands is one of the founding members of the European Union. Like other EU countries, it follows the same foreign trade and economic regulations as the EU*** in its foreign economic and trade activities.

The Netherlands attaches great importance to the development of relations with China and has designated 1995 as the Year of China. In that year, the Dutch Prime Minister visited China and promised to provide a mixed loan of 1.25 billion guilders, or about 650 million U.S. dollars, with an implementation period of 1996-2002. Since then, senior officials from both sides have exchanged frequent visits.In December 1995, during a meeting between Dutch Minister of Development Cooperation Pronk and then Minister of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation Wu Yi, the decision to provide long-term development assistance to China was announced.In March 1996, the Chinese and Dutch governments signed a Sino-Dutch Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on development cooperation, which established Sino-Dutch cooperation in the areas of poverty alleviation, environmental protection, forestry, training, and education.1999 saw a visit to China by the Queen, and 2000 saw a visit to China by Zhu Yi, the President of the Netherlands. In 1999, the Queen visited China, and in 2000, Premier Zhu visited the Netherlands, and bilateral relations entered a new phase.

Trade between China and the Netherlands dates back to the 17th century. After the founding of New China and the establishment of its diplomatic relations, the economic and trade relations between the two sides, mainly from the 1990s, the bilateral trade volume rose steadily, exceeding 4 billion U.S. dollars in 1995, 5 billion U.S. dollars in 1997, 5.995 billion U.S. dollars in 1998, 6.423 billion U.S. dollars in 1999, 7.923 billion U.S. dollars in 2000. 8.739 billion U.S. dollars in 2001, and about 9.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2002. An increase of 12.6% over the previous year, of which China's exports amounted to more than 8.1 billion dollars, accounting for more than 83%. In China's exports to the EU 15 countries in the Netherlands accounted for the second place.

The main economic sectors of the Netherlands

Industry

An international orientation characterizes Dutch industry, not only in terms of export sales, but also in terms of the extensive establishment of production bases abroad and cooperation with foreign enterprises. The main industrial sectors are chemicals, food processing and metal processing, with food processing being the largest sector. There is also a sizable printing and electronics industry. The Netherlands is the 'home base' of the world's largest chemical complex. The Dutch metal processing industry specializes mainly in mechanical engineering. Thanks to the extensive use of electronic control systems, the Netherlands is a world leader in the fields of food-processing machinery, transportation, and food and chemical production plants.

Energy

Dutch energy companies are engaged in both oil and gas exploration inland and on the Dutch continental shelf in the North Sea. In particular, the exploitation of large natural gas fields in the north of the Netherlands has made the Netherlands the largest producer of natural gas in Western Europe. Rotterdam plays an important role in supplying Western Europe with energy; it imports large quantities of crude oil through its port and has a large refinery near the port. Crude oil and oil-producing ports are sent directly from the port to industrial centers in Germany and Belgium, mainly through pipelines.

Services

The services sector is increasingly the main driver of Europe's economic development. Over the past two decades, the service sector has grown to become the largest economic sector in the Netherlands. The export of business services has grown faster than the export of goods over the past decade. The most important area within the services sector is trade, followed by transportation and communications, construction, business services, and banking and insurance. Most firms in the services sector are mainly active in the domestic market. However, transportation, technical consulting and trading companies are more focused on foreign markets. The three largest banks in the Netherlands are ABN AMRO, ING International and Rabobank, all of which are ranked among the top 25 banks in Europe and have a presence in financial centers around the world.

Traffic, transportation and communication

The Netherlands has a long tradition of transportation. Located on the shores of the North Sea, the three major rivers, the Rhine, the Maas and the Scheldt, all flow into the sea from Dutch territory; this unique geographical advantage has enabled the Netherlands to develop into a gateway to Europe, a position that has been further strengthened with the removal of borders within Europe. The Netherlands' crucial position on the European distribution network has also attracted many international companies to settle here. Ocean freighters carry tens of millions of tons of cargo to Rotterdam, the world's largest seaport, every year. Amsterdam's Schiphol International Airport is Europe's 4th largest air terminal for passengers and cargo. In order to maintain the Netherlands' economic position as a vital transit country and to ensure easy access to business centers, the Dutch government has taken measures to ease traffic. It encourages "multi-***ing", cycling, walking, telecommuting, etc., with a particular focus on encouraging the use of public **** transportation facilities.

The total number of passenger kilometers traveled by the Dutch public transport system is approximately 25 billion per year. This is achieved by trains, urban and regional public ****cars and trams*** together. The cities of Amsterdam and Rotterdam even have metro systems. Intra-city and intra-regional public transportation mainly uses bus**** cars. Buses, streetcars, and metros use a special pricing system: the whole country is divided into different "traffic zones", using a nationally recognized "strip ticket", which is paid by the passenger according to the number of "traffic zones" traveled. Passengers "stamp" their tickets with the number of "zones" traveled and pay a fixed rate. Rail transportation is the responsibility of the Dutch Railways. Modern "intercity express trains" run every half hour between most major cities.

The Netherlands accounts for 8% of GDP and has a large share of the European transportation market. The Port of Rotterdam has been the world's largest seaport for more than 30 years. In order to maintain this leading position, the Port of Rotterdam is undergoing continuous modernization. Other important seaports are the ports of Amsterdam and Felsen/Emuiden, the ports of Delftzell, Emshaven and Vlissingen.

In addition to Schipol International Airport, the Netherlands has 16 airports of various sizes, the larger of which are Rotterdam's Sestinghoven Airport and Maastricht's Beck Airport. Passengers can reach all major cities in the Netherlands comfortably and quickly by rail or road. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is the largest airline in the Netherlands, followed by Martinair, Transavia and KLM. The latter companies mainly provide vacation passenger services. Martinair also handles international cargo.

The Netherlands has a highly developed electronic communications infrastructure, with one of the highest cable densities in Europe. All telecommunication exchanges are digital, which allows simultaneous calls and messages on the same line; communication via personal computer, "videoconferencing" and graphic faxes are already available to every user.

Agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, fisheries

The Netherlands, despite being a small country, is one of the world's largest exporters of agricultural products. 1995 exports of agricultural products to the world amounted to 72 billion guilders. About 80% of Dutch agricultural products are exported to other EU countries, especially Germany. However, the Netherlands also imports agricultural raw materials from other countries, mainly for livestock feed and food processing industry (such as coffee, tea and cocoa).

The farming industry has always been an important part of Dutch agriculture. Although the area under cultivation has declined considerably in recent years and now stands at around 800,000 hectares, the harvest per hectare has increased considerably as a result of improved yields in recent decades. In recent years farmers have been cultivating mainly potatoes, wheat and sugar beet, and the cultivation of maize for livestock feed has also increased rapidly. About a quarter of cultivated land is devoted to maize. Potatoes from the Netherlands, especially "seed potatoes", are sold worldwide.

Horticulture is the largest branch of agriculture in the Netherlands in terms of production. Holland is famous for its flowers, which are flown to every corner of the world. In less than 24 hours, a bouquet of Dutch roses can be in a vase on a table on the other side of the world. The Netherlands is the world's largest exporter of flowers and bulbs, with exports in 1995 amounting to 5.3 billion guilders.

The largest branch of animal husbandry is dairy farming, followed by pig, poultry, sheep, livestock and calf and goat farming. In recent decades, through research work and the application of modern technology, the traditional methods of dairy farming have been greatly improved, and the rearing of dairy cows, milk production and milk storage have been fully automated in many farms. Selective breeding through artificial insemination, combined with improved feeding, has enabled cows to produce large quantities of milk. It is now by no means unusual for a cow to produce 7,000 liters of milk a year, compared with 3,800 liters in 1950.

Processing of agricultural and horticultural products, meat and dairy products is a major branch of Dutch agriculture. Currently, the value of food and beverages and tobacco accounts for more than a quarter of the total value of all industrial and agricultural production in the Netherlands, making it one of the country's pillar industries. The output value of the food, beverage and tobacco industry accounts for 60% of the entire agricultural output value. The most important raw materials for this processing industry are potatoes, milk and meat.

The Dutch fishing industry is based on deep-sea and offshore fishing, but also shellfish farming and inland water fishing. Deep-sea and inshore fishing in the Netherlands is carried out mainly by fleets of dhows and trawlers. Much smaller dhows fish for plaice, sole, cod and small shrimps in close proximity, mainly in the central and southern parts of the North Sea.

The Netherlands is committed to sustainable and environmentally sound forms of agricultural production. Currently, intensive production is used, and farmers apply chemical fertilizers and pesticides, which have a damaging effect on the natural environment. The Netherlands has therefore made considerable efforts to find crop and horticultural cultivation methods that protect the natural environment. A good example of this is the switch to biological protection against pests and diseases. A great deal of research has also been done to develop varieties that are more resistant to disease.

The press

Freedom of expression is one of the cornerstones of the Dutch political system. The Dutch government pursues a policy aimed at preserving and promoting the independence and pluralism of the media, both in radio and television broadcasting and in publishing. The Press Act emphasizes that broadcasters are free to decide on the form and content of their projects. In the case of publishing, the government similarly emphasizes that it has no right to interfere with its content. However, since the media sector plays a vital role in providing information to all citizens, the government must accordingly create the conditions for it to function optimally.

The main branches of the Dutch publishing industry are: daily newspapers, local newspapers, and periodicals. The largest national dailies are the Telegraaf, the Dagbladet, and the Nation. There are also a number of regional newspapers, which usually have a fairly large circulation. The local newspapers are not published every day, but usually one to three times a week, and play an important role in disseminating local news, mainly in the smaller administrative regions. Almost every Dutch household subscribes to a daily newspaper, and the Press Fund, established in 1974, provides financial support to newspapers and periodicals to help them through difficult times. Support can take the form of loans or subsidies, but is temporary, i.e. after a certain period of time the publications have to be sustained again on their own. The daily newspaper publishing industry is highly concentrated in the hands of a few publishers: the largest daily newspaper conglomerate is UniPublishing, followed by Telegraph, VNU and Vigne. Periodicals are categorized as opinion, popular, radio and television, and trade. The main polemical journals do not have a large circulation, but the impact of their opinions is relatively high. The circulation of popular periodicals is significantly higher, for example, the women's magazines Liberation and Margaret have a circulation of 750,000 and 525,000 respectively. The circulation of radio and television periodicals is also high, and they contain a great deal of information about radio and television programs in addition to general articles.

Since the 1920s, the Netherlands has had a system of public radio (television) whereby programs are broadcast by different radio and television associations, each representing a different branch of society. This system is unique in the world. The current radio and television associations are: general, Jesuit, social-democratic, Catholic, progressive and Jesuit, and they are licensed for a period of five years, until the year 2000. They are each responsible for a whole range of programs, including informational, educational and entertainment programs, as well as the Dutch Radio and Television Foundation, under which all public broadcasters cooperate, and the Dutch Program Foundation, which broadcasts programs for young people and ethnic minorities of a cultural nature. Broadcasting time can also be arranged for churches, religious organizations, political parties, government agencies and educational broadcasters during public broadcasting hours.

Public broadcasting television (PBS) has three national television networks and five national radio networks, and each province has its own regional radio station, with some 400 local public service broadcasters throughout the Netherlands***. The financial support of public broadcasting is provided by a "radio and television fee" and advertising revenue. Advertising is handled by the STER organization. Advertisements are broadcast between different programs. PBS does not practice interrupting a program in the middle of a program to run advertisements. Since 1992, commercial television has also been available in the Netherlands. In addition to RTL4 and RTL5, there is Veronica, SBS6, TV10 and Music Factory. There are also commercial radio stations in the Netherlands. Almost every Dutch home is connected to the cable network. A large number of national and international public and commercial transmitters broadcast programs via the cable network, such as BRTN, ARD, ZDF, BBC, TV5, CNN and MTV.

RNW is an independent public broadcaster that broadcasts radio and television programs worldwide for Dutch people who are staying abroad permanently or temporarily, or who are interested in the Netherlands and its culture.
RNW broadcasts daily in Dutch, English, Spanish, Indonesian and Papiamento. Radio programs are broadcast on shortwave, mediumwave, local FM waves and communication satellites, and contain a lot of news and current events, sports and weather. Television programmes are sold to authorized national companies. The Dutch Broadcasting Training Center provides training in program production for personnel from developing countries and is responsible for worldwide cooperation in this area.

Labor

The Dutch labor force is known for its stability, education, productivity, multilingualism, and friendly and open attitude. Dutch labor relations have always been harmonious, and in recent years Dutch workers have lost the fewest working days to strikes of any European country.

Foreign trade

The Netherlands has a small domestic market from an international perspective. In view of this, many companies are moving abroad in the form of export sales. The excellent geographical position in Western Europe is very conducive to the internationalization of Dutch business activities. For a long time, many non-European companies have also looked to the Netherlands for location advantages and have set up their European headquarters in the Netherlands in order to develop in the European market. As a result of these factors, the value of international trade in the Netherlands accounts for more than half of its GDP, and the Dutch economy plays an important role in the international trade market. The Netherlands is in the top 10 of the list of the world's most important trading countries. The trade balance has traditionally turned out to be in surplus, as have the results of the current account of the balance of payments. The Netherlands' economic prosperity is highly dependent on international trade, which has resulted in the development of a pool of international marketing talent that is an excellent tool for companies to capture the European market.

Science and technology

Because the Netherlands is not rich in natural resources, society as a whole emphasizes the improvement and development of knowledge. There are more than 60,000 researchers working in companies, universities and research institutes, with an annual investment of NLG 10 billion in research; of which companies account for 50%, while universities and trade research institutes each account for 25%. The results of the hard work of Dutch researchers account for 7% of EU scientific papers and 6% of EU patents. Around 5,000 companies in the Netherlands have their own research departments to innovate their products and production processes. The most important companies in this respect are the five largest multinationals: Philips, Shell, Akzo Nobel DSM and Unilever.