Dutch chip manufacturing equipment provider ASML Holding NV plans to continue growing its local staff in the Chinese mainland next year, as it expects the robust demand from Chinese customers to continue, a senior executive said on Sunday.

Shen Bo, senior vice-president of ASML and president of ASML China, said in an exclusive interview with China Daily in Shanghai that the company is hiring more than 200 new employees in the Chinese mainland this year, and its local employment plan is also likely to be big next year.

"This year, the Chinese mainland is expected to account for about 20 percent of ASML's total sales," Shen said.

ASML CEO Peter Wennink had said earlier that in the past couple of years, around 15 percent of ASML's sales were in the Chinese mainland.

In the third quarter of this year, the Chinese mainland accounted for 46 percent of ASML's total revenues, thanks to the robust local demand.

ASML is participating in the ongoing China International Import Expo for the fifth time this year. Shen said, "We hope to leverage the platform of CIIE to continuously demonstrate our openness and collaboration."

"ASML continuously supports the development of the semiconductor industry through 'open innovation' and focuses on lithography technology. At CIIE, we can have more opportunities to communicate and cooperate with partners from the integrated circuits industry and even across industries," Shen said.