Embassy of The Netherlands in Beijing
The embassy of the Netherlands in Beijing is there for the purpose of representing Dutch interests in China. There are a number of different ways that it does this as provides a wide variety of services. The embassy is located at Chancery: No.4, Liang Ma He Nan Lu and can be visited during normal working hours. The primary reason that the embassy exists is provide diplomatic relations between the governments of the Netherlands and China, however it also serves Dutch visitors. People visiting China from the Netherlands can contact the embassy if they run into any problems like losing their passport or getting arrested, the embassy staff can offer assistance. The embassy also helps to promote the Netherlands in China, by providing information on business opportunities or tourist information. The will also help to facilitate this by processing visas and other paperwork that is necessary to travel to the Netherlands.
The Netherlands is a small country located in northwest Europe between Germany and France. The country is famous for being so low that it requires dikes to keep from being flooded by the North Sea. Although frequently referred to as Holland this is actually not correct, Holland is a state within the Netherlands, although by the largest it does not represent the whole country. The Netherlands has a constitutional monarchy, meaning they have a king with limited powers and real power rests with the elected government. The Netherlands are a member of the European Union.
Despite it's small size the Netherlands are an economic powerhouse and have been for some time. The Dutch have historically been famous as traders, acting as middlemen the Netherlands became one of the wealthiest nations in Europe during the seventeenth century. They also created the world of high finance the modern stock exchange was a dutch invention. These days the Netherlands remains an important center of finance and trade, Rotterdam is one of the busiest ports in Europe. They also have a strong high tech industry and given their small size a surprisingly large resource based economy. This is primarily because of their drilling rights for offshore oil.
China and the Netherlands have had fairly good relations for the past decade or so, prior to that things were a little bit shaky. As China has opened up to the world in the last few years and her growing economy has made her a superpower China's relations with most countries have improved and the Netherlands are no exception. In the past China tended to take an isolationist stance while western countries criticised them for their human rights issues. In the last decade or so China has become more open and the desire of most countries to access the giant Chinese market has resulted in improved relations and this is true with Netherlands as much as any other country.