This year the Friendship relation between the Province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands and Jiangsu Province in China exists 25 years. On this occasion the Province of Noord-Brabant organized a seminar in the Hall of the Province. The event coincided with the yearly Chinese New Year celebration of the Province. There were around 150 attendees from the Government and the local Business Community. The Governor of the Province, Mr. van de Donk, also attended.

In his speech Professor Greidanus addressed the history of Royal Philips in China and the role Royal Philips played in the coming about of the Friendship relation between the Province of Noord-Brabant in the Netherlands and Jiangsu Province in China. Royal Philips opened its first Sales Office on Szechuan Lu in Shanghai in 1923. Its audio-video factory was established in 1985 in Beijing, followed by picture tube factories and lighting factories in Nanjing and a television factory in Suzhou. Today Royal Philips operates a large Industrial Campus for Medical Imaging Systems in Suzhou. The strong presence of Royal Philips, which was founded in Eindhoven in Noord-Brabant in 1891, in Jiangsu Province, stimulated the relation between the two Provinces and cities in both Provinces, leading to many Friendship relations. Today there are also very strong economic ties between the two Provinces, with 28 Noord-Brabant companies having subsidiaries in Jiangsu Province and 13 Jiangsu Companies having subsidiaries in the Province of Noord-Brabant. The cradle of all these activities was laid by Royal Philips in the 80s of the last century! Professor Greidanus ended his speech with recommendations for Dutch Companies which want to establish a presence in China.