CORPORATE COOPERATION
The linkage of "Made in China 2025" with Industry 4.0 has provided enormous opportunities for companies of the two sides to cooperate and expand their business.
According to Chinese Ministry of Commerce, China invested over 2.9 billion U.S. dollars in Germany in 2016, a 258.6-percent increase year-on-year. In the same year, Germany pumped 392 projects in China with an investment volume of 2.71 billion U.S. dollars.
Successful cases of corporate cooperation between the two countries are numerous, such as the joint exploration of Industry 4.0 in steel industry by China's Baosteel and Germany's Siemens, the smart washing machine plant developed by China's Haier and Germany's Fraunhofer Institute, and Midea Group's takeover of German robot maker Kuka earlier this year.
Wang Weidong, commercial counselor of the Chinese embassy in Germany, said the docking of "Made in China 2025" and Industry 4.0 is a process of mutual learning, which is mutually beneficial in nature.
BDI's Kempf also said the two countries' corporate cooperation on the basis of free choice has been more successful that ever. "The experience is quite positive," he said.
Tobias Simmendinger, product & market chief of Linde Hydraulics, a world leading company in hydraulics that was acquired by China's Weichai Power Company, said the acquisition is widely seen as a classic case of win-win cooperation.
"We have benefited from the Chinese side's Customer First slogan and its high-class after-sales service, and have been deeply impressed by the Chinese side's fast strategy adjustment and flexible operation," he said. "Thanks to Weichai's wide sales network in China and perfect after-sales service, Linde has seen a sharp rise of its product sales in China."
