Dutch companies are to help Hong Kong deal with its mounting waste problem under an agreement signed by foreign trade minister Lilianne Ploumen and the Chinese city authorities.

The Netherlands and Hong Kong will work ‘intensively together’ to tackle the city’s waste problems and put a recycling strategy into practice, the minister said.

‘My aim is to support Dutch firms in taking advantage of the enormous opportunities the growing Chinese economy offers,’ the minister said in a statement.

Ploumen is leading a trade mission with representatives of more than 50 Dutch firms to China until May 10.