Dutch goods imports from China increased by more than a fifth in 2021 compared to the previous year. Last year, almost 50 billion euros worth of raw materials, semi-finished and finished products from China entered the port of Rotterdam — almost 10 percent of all goods imports. In 2020 this was still about 40 billion euros. The Dutch telecom sector in particular is becoming increasingly dependent on China, according to Figures published on Monday from the Central Bureau of Statistics.
Two thirds of the goods imported from China left Dutch territory virtually untouched, a larger share of the total import than in 2020. These are mainly high-tech end products such as computers, telephones and microchips. The rest of the imported goods do go to Dutch companies, governments or households. There it is immediately put into use or processed into an end product, after which it can still be exported.
Chinese technological products — computers, telephones, transformers — are also increasingly popular for domestic use. A quarter of the Dutch telecom market is now dependent on China for its goods imports. In 2015, this was still 14 percent. The IT and information services also obtain a large part (20 percent) of the goods from the East Asian country.
The increasing degree to which the Dutch economy is becoming intertwined with that of China is sensitive because of the Chinese issues surrounding human rights violations. Investigating human rights organizations and international news media have shown time and again that the regime of Chinese leader Xi Jinping has forced some of the Uyghur minority to do forced labour, including for brands such as Apple, Nike and Volkswagen.
US President Joe Biden already enforced by law last year that all goods made in the Xinjiang region are stopped at the US border for inspection. Last week, Reuters news agency revealed that thousands of containers with Chinese solar panels moored in US ports, because US regulators think they are products of forced labor. The European Union is also preparing a total ban on forcibly produced goods.