The Dutch economic mission with the Entreprise Agency of Netherlands (RVO) to Shanghai_Shenzen en Hongkong SAR, 23th-29th of october 2025. The theme is Sustainable built Environment.

 

Under the guidance of the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO), ANL participated in an economic mission to China (Shanghai and Shenzhen) and Hong Kong from October 23rd to 29th. The theme was a sustainable built environment. This mission is relevant for Dutch parties and interesting for ANL. Besides networking, ANL learned a lot and gained valuable insights into innovation and technology developments in China and Hong Kong regarding sustainable building.

 

The Chinese construction sector is growing rapidly and is expected to reach a market of approximately USD 4.8 trillion by 2024, with projected growth to USD 8.1 trillion by 2034. At the same time, China and Hong Kong face significant challenges and ambitions to make their sectors more sustainable. Key points of China’s circular ambitions include:

• The five-year plan for a circular economy (2021) sets ambitious goals, such as recycling 60% of all construction waste by 2025. Additionally, China aims to be fully CO₂-neutral by 2060.

• Hong Kong aims to halve CO₂ emissions by 2035 and is strongly focused on reducing energy consumption in commercial and residential buildings.

 

The Netherlands is internationally recognized as a leader in circular construction and sustainable innovations. While China still lags in circular construction (with most demolition waste currently going to landfills), this presents an excellent opportunity for Dutch companies to establish valuable partnerships with their knowledge, technologies, and products. Thus, this mission also focused on knowledge exchange. Seven Dutch companies participated, including two major design firms: MVRDV from Rotterdam and OMA from Hong Kong. Networking occurred not only with Chinese parties but also among the Dutch companies themselves. Additionally, there were cultural activities and visits to historical buildings. Many interesting project visits, substantive (roundtable) discussions, and workshops took place.

 

For ANL, this was the first project visit to China and Hong Kong, providing a different perspective on the country. It was an impressive and educational economic mission!

 

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