Sister province since: April 24, 2006

Overview

Located between major ports in Europe, namely the ports of Rotterdam and Amsterdam in the Netherlands and Ruhr Port in Germany, Gelderland has an important geographical position. Its transportation and telecommunications sectors are well-developed. Gelderland is home to 73,000 plus enterprises, and many internationally renowned companies have set up branches or offices in the province.

Relations with Hubei

The friendly exchanges between Hubei and Gelderland started in 1998. In April 2006, the Governor of Gelderland led a delegation to Hubei. During the visit, he signed an agreement with Luo Qingquan, then Governor of Hubei Province, which formally established the sister province relations between Gelderland with Hubei. During the governor’s visit, an Economic Gelderland-Hubei Cooperation Fair was also organized. Since then, both provinces have sent delegations to each other every year for various purposes.

In March 2017, Vice Governor of Gelderland and his delegation visited Hubei to promote economic and trade cooperation with the province under the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative. In November, Vice Governor of Gelderland led a business delegation to Hubei again, and co-organized Hubei-Gelderland Belt and Road Investment and Trade Seminar. In November 2017, the two provinces jointly held the Belt and Road Investment and Trade Seminar and such activities as pick-up ceremony of Wuhan-European freight train and Dutch Day in Hubei.

In September 2018, a delegation from Hubei Province visited Gelderland. During the visit, the delegation visited Dutch companies in environment protection and food industry.

In September 2019, a delegation of the Gelderland government officials and hydrogen energy business representatives visited Hubei. Gelderland-Wuhan Hydrogen Energy Industry Cooperation and Exchange Meeting was held. The delegation visited the environmental protection enterprises in Hubei Province and the historical sites including Yellow Crane Tower.

On March 18, 2020, John Berends, Governor of Gelderland, sent a letter to Wang Xiaodong, then Governor of Hubei Province. He expressed his heartfelt congratulations on the successful control of Covid-19 pandemic in Hubei Province and showed respect to the great efforts made by all medical institutions, research institutes and governments at all levels.

In 2021, Wuhan-Netherlands Modern Facility Agriculture Cooperation and Exchange Meeting was held in Wuhan. A total of 30 enterprises in Wuhan attended the meeting and discussed with Dutch enterprises on modern facilities and horticulture technology. During their stay in Wuhan, the Dutch delegation visited the vegetable base of the Institute of Economic Crops of Hubei Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Hubei Conglin Agro-ecology, Wuhan Peimeida Agricultural Technology, and Fanhua Group to learn about the latest developments of agricultural production facility in Hubei Province and seek cooperation opportunities.