The Netherlands Pavilion celebrated its National Pavilion Day yesterday, which was attended by Crown Prince Willem Alexander of the Netherlands and his wife Princess Maxima. Chen Lei, Chinese Minister of Water Resources and Zhou Hanmin, Deputy Director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee, also attended the ceremony.

 

Prince Willem Alexander recalled the similarities of Shanghai and Amsterdam in the book by Shanghai writer Wang Anyi. He's proud that his country is taking part in the grand event. 

 

 

With its houses in the sky, the Netherlands presented probably the most whimsical pavilion of the entire Shanghai Expo. Under the theme "Happy Street", the Netherlands built 20 elevated houses lining a 400 meter pedestrian street shaped like a figure eight. With this sign of infinity, the pavilion aims to symbolize the sustainability of an ideal city, as it highlights Dutch innovations in space, energy, and water conservation.

 

The bilateral cooperation between China and the Netherlands is being continuously deepened and enhanced. The Netherlands has become China's second largest trade partner inside European Union for consecutive seven years. 

 

(source: websites of Expo2010 Shanghai and CCTV )