Builder Volker Wessels signed a contract with Chinese state company Shanghai Construction Group yesterday for the joint construction of the European Chinese Centre (ECC), to be built in the port of Rotterdam.
ECC will be a complex of offices for Chinese and China-oriented Dutch companies, housing, shops and a Chinese hotel. The agreement, worth 100 million euros, was signed in Shanghai in the presence of the Shanghai and Rotterdam Mayors Han and Opstelten.
The project will begin in the 2009 first quarter. The first phase involves 36,000 square metres. Step-by-step, 100,000 square metres will become available for the Chinese business centre, which is being built at the location of the so-called Steinweg sheds.
Volker Wessels director Werner said the joint venture agreement with Shanghai Construction Group was chosen because this would create the best chances of attracting Chinese legal and commercial services companies to Rotterdam. For Shanghai Construction Group, this is its first large project in the Netherlands.
"Rotterdam is the biggest port in Europe, and a specially China oriented modern business centre belongs there," declared Opstelten. Which Chinese offices will locate in the ECC is not yet clear.
ECC will be a complex of offices for Chinese and China-oriented Dutch companies, housing, shops and a Chinese hotel. The agreement, worth 100 million euros, was signed in Shanghai in the presence of the Shanghai and Rotterdam Mayors Han and Opstelten.
The project will begin in the 2009 first quarter. The first phase involves 36,000 square metres. Step-by-step, 100,000 square metres will become available for the Chinese business centre, which is being built at the location of the so-called Steinweg sheds.
Volker Wessels director Werner said the joint venture agreement with Shanghai Construction Group was chosen because this would create the best chances of attracting Chinese legal and commercial services companies to Rotterdam. For Shanghai Construction Group, this is its first large project in the Netherlands.
"Rotterdam is the biggest port in Europe, and a specially China oriented modern business centre belongs there," declared Opstelten. Which Chinese offices will locate in the ECC is not yet clear.