Groningen Confucius Institute co-organized Sino-Dutch Biobased Transition Business Conference

Gepubliseerd op 30.01.2019

the Sino-Dutch Biobased Transition Business Conference

On December 12th, Groningen Confucius Institute successfully co-organized the Sino-Dutch Biobased Transition Business Conference in Groningen with the theme of “The Biobased Transition: Opportunities and chances for Sino Dutch cooperation’s”. the conference brought together dozens of business companies, government departments, educational institutions and other organizations from China and the Netherlands. Representatives of all parties fully expressed their research achievements or cooperation vision in their respective fields, also discussed the frontiers of science and technology application and Sino-Dutch business culture, and sought win-win cooperation in the commercial field. There was one tripartite framework cooperation reached at the venue. The conference promoted the new process of Sino-Dutch business cooperation in the field of biobased transition.

Conference site

Co-organized by the Groningen Confucius Institute, Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, and the University of Groningen, the conference opened at 8:30 a.m. Mr. Henk Pijlman, President of Hanze University of Applied Sciences Groningen, delivered an opening speech. He reviewed the historical progress of Sino-Dutch business cooperation in the field of biobased transition and explored opportunities for cooperation in research and investment in the future. “The main challenge in the future is whether we can create a strong partnership and set up successful cooperation in the field... I think today’s conference is a good opportunity to make the cooperation happen and succeed.”

Mr. Henk Pijlman delivered the opening speech

Ms. Victorine de Graaf, Dean Institute Life Science & Technology at Hanze University of Applied Sciences, introduced the latest developments in biobased research and commercial applications. In a subsequent interview, she mentioned, “I have been to China for four or five times, I found that we are very interested in reducing pollution and improving the quality of the environment. In this field, the Netherlands is innovative. I think the cooperation between the two sides will have a great breakthrough."

Ms. Victorine de Graaf was giving a speech at the conference

Ms. Victorine de Graaf was also the representative of Hanze to sign a framework cooperation contract, which was signed by Ms. Caroline van de Molen (Dean Saxion University of Applied Sciences), Ms. Victorine de Graaf and Mark Qu, (representative of the Novamedik company). “We have established an information exchange platform, which aims to combine the Dutch technical resources and R&D resources with the needs of the Chinese market and enterprises, and seek more cooperation possibilities between the two parties through the matching of resources.” Mark Qu said in the interview amid the conference.

Signing the framework cooperation contract

Later, participants from the community of business and academics gave speeches.
In commercial applications, Mr. Daan Levy from New Marble introduced the production of tiles made from plastic waste; Steven Bruyninckx from DMO Sports Car described the technology of car bodywork made from hemp; Prof. Heinrich Wörtche from Hanze University of Applied Sciences published an introduction to the “Agriculture 4.0”: the latest application of sensor technology in agriculture; Mark Qu introduced the application history, future trends of using earthworm line to dispose organic waste in China.
In terms of the academic achievement and cooperation, Prof. HJ Heeres & Dr. A. Heeres, Dr. DJ Binnema & Prof. GJ Euverink introduced substantive positioning and explanation towards chemical conversion and bioconversion, and explored the possibility of cooperation with China.

Speeches at the conference

In addition to technology applications and business cooperation, the discussion of agricultural culture and business culture are also the highlights of the day's conference. Mr. Yufang Guo, Chairman Board of Directors at Jomec Investment, delivered a speech about the changes of ancient Chinese agricultural technology and culture from the ancient Chinese Emperor Yan. “Cooperation between different countries is a cross-cultural cooperation. When we conduct business cooperation, we cannot ignore culture. When we talk about Emperor Yan, we are really talking about the first emperor in Chinese history who has made great contributions to agriculture, and also talking about traditional Chinese agricultural technology and culture, this is also very related to the theme today.”

Mr. Yufang Guo introduced Chinese agriculture

Xuefei Knoester-Cao, director of Groningen Confucius Institute, gave a speech to introduce the different business cultures between China and the Netherlands. This topic stimulated warm discussion and participation of the audience, and also pushed the atmosphere of the conference to a climax. “I think that most of the obstacles in business cooperation are not from the business itself, but from culture. Especially Chinese culture is quite different from that of the west. I hope that by introducing this theme, we can inspire the participants to pay attention to business culture so as to create more favorable conditions for business cooperation. ”Xuefei Knoester-Cao said in a subsequent interview.

Ms. Xuefei Knoester-Cao introduced Chinese business culture

Looking back at the whole conference, Jan Klerken, vice director of Groningen Confucius Institute, said, "We have created a very successful platform. There were a lot of meetings and new contacts today. We also paid attention to culture. I think we are heading for a community, it doesn’t matter anymore that you are from China or the Netherlands, it’s just about the theme and connection you have, and also good relations and friendship.”

Mr. Jan Klerken introduced the Groningen Confucius Institute at the conference

The conference lasted until 5:00 p.m. Yang Wang and Jessica Rutgers of Groningen Confucius Institute participated in the conference site to make the conference go smoothly.
This conference is the first large-scale business conference held by the Groningen Confucius Institute in the field of biobased transition. The participants have exchanged information, communicated about the business cooperation, learned the frontier dynamics, and laid a good foundation for future cooperation.

Participant were registering and communicating