DELFT, The Netherlands - Ms. Li Minyan, general manager of China Certification and Inspection Group Europe, was given the Foreign Direct Investment Award by the Dutch government here Tuesday at the sixth Sino-Dutch Economic Seminar.

The annual seminar with the theme of innovation this year, which was organized by the Association of Chinese Investment Enterprises in the Netherlands (ACIEN) and the Dutch National Foreign Investment Agency (NFIA), attracted around 100 business elites in the field of bilateral trade from China and the Netherlands.

According to Bas Pulles, Dutch government commissioner to NFIA, that the "Going Out" policy has stimulated more in-depth development of Chinese companies in the Netherlands. Many Chinese enterprises are branding their own products in the Dutch market.

The latest statistics show in the area of investment to the Netherlands, China ranked No 6 worldwide and No 2 in non-EU countries. In the meantime, the investment from China to the Netherlands is growing the second fast, only behind the United States.

"There also might be in one or two years' time that we see much more cooperation between Chinese companies investing here but also Chinese companies doing research together with the researchers and institutions here," he added.

Chen Xu, Chinese ambassador to the Netherlands, said in his speech that the Netherlands has been the second biggest European trade partner of China for 10 consecutive years. Last year the trading volume was exceeding $67 billion. In the area of investment to China, the Netherlands is listed No 3 among EU countries.

"I should say all these achievements not come by easily," Chen said, "They are based on the sustained strong growth of the Chinese economy, the openness of the Dutch market and the committed efforts of everyone here today."