The Province of Zuid-Holland has a relationship with two Chinese regions: Hebei Province and Shanghai Pudong. The relationship with Hebei is ongoing since 1993 following an initiative of the Chamber of Commerce Haaglanden and meanwhile turned into friendship relation between Hebei and Zuid-Holland. Since 2004 the Province of Zuid-Holland has a relationship with Shanghai focusing on innovation within the economic clusters. With both regions it is a "government-to-government” relationship which is explicitly facilitating "business-to-business” relationships and relationships between knowledge institutions.
The cooperation with Hebei Province focuses mainly in the field of water conservancy and environmental protection, port development, new energy and energy conservation, agriculture and horticulture, and education. The focus of the cooperation with Shanghai Pudong is on innovation, water management, biotechnology, food safety and urban agriculture. The “Memorandum of Understanding” (MOU) between the Province of Zuid-Holland, and Hebei Province was renewed in 2020.
