AMSTERDAM - Dutch Deputy Prime Minister Maxime Verhagen on Friday said Chinese companies increasingly appreciate what the Netherlands has to offer.

"As a trade partner and gateway to Europe, Holland is the point of entry with 40 percent of Chinese exports to Europe. The 332 Chinese companies established in the Netherlands provide solid evidence of our global clients," Verhagen told the Sino-Dutch Business Summit, which also marks the 40th year of diplomatic ties between China and the Netherlands.

Verhagen urged the promotion of bilateral foreign investment in areas of fast-growing, creative and high-tech industries.

According to the latest statistics, bilateral economic trade reached a new high of $68.15 billion, while year-on-year growth hit 21.3 percent. For nine consecutive years, the Netherlands has been China's second-biggest trade partner in the EU.

Huiman Yi, senior executive vice president of ICBC -- one of the forum's organizers -- pointed out the importance of facilitating trade and investment with cross-border renminbi trade settlement in order to achieve in-depth collaboration.

"In recent years, cross-border Renminbi trade settlement continues to accelerate, it is also on top of PRC government's agenda. This entails that Chinese businesses abroad have also increased in a considerable manner, reaching global heights," Yi said.