THE HAGUE, 21/02/07 - Schiphol has signed an agreement with Chinese company Chinamex on the development of a Chinese trade and exhibition centre close to the Amsterdam airport.

The centre is to offer space for 1,000 to 1,500 Chinese companies that want to carry on trade with buyers from the EU. Schiphol expects the centre to turn over around 3 billion euros annually.

It could still take years before the trade and exhibition centre is operational. The agreement must among other things survive the stringent and time-consuming Dutch environmental licence procedures.

Schiphol Group and Chinamex have been working on the plan since November 2005. A comparable centre of Chinamax, which has close links with the Chinese government, already exists in Dubai.