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German companies aim high at China’s first import expo
BERLIN, Oct. 13, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – A large number of German companies
has announced their participation in the first China International Import
Expo (CIIE), to be held in Shanghai from November 5 to 10, aiming to seek new
business opportunities.
Lothar Herrmann, CEO of Siemens Greater China, told Xinhua in a recent
written interview that Siemens hopes to enhance exchanges with partners and
customers from across the world, and add new momentum to global economic
development through this new platform of CIIE.
“This year marks the 40th anniversary of China’s historical opening and
reform. The CIIE is a strong gesture of China to commit to continuing
opening-up in a new era of globalization,” Herrmann said.
“As a long-standing partner for China, Siemens welcomes and appreciates
China’s efforts in opening-up,” he added.
Another German exhibitor Bayer also told Xinhua that it expects to take
this opportunity to show visitors about Bayer’s strategy and products and to
seek new cooperation possibilities.
“Hosting the CIIE is a major decision of China with a view to start a new
round of high-level opening-up policies and an important initiative to open
up its market to the world,” Bayer said in a statement to Xinhua.
As a world-class high-end expo, CIIE will create adequate opportunities
for the attending countries and corporate to display, exchange and cooperate,
the statement read.
Bayer considers China as a crucial market for its global business
strategy, and as an important driver for growth. It is optimistic about its
future prospects in China and its ability to contribute to China’s
development through innovation and science.
Philippe Palazzi, chief operating officer and management board member of
wholesale and food retail company Metro AG, said “China is an important
growth market for Metro and we’d like to take the opportunity of CIIE to
showcase our strength in imports and global sourcing, which is one of our
core competences as an international player in food distribution.”
“We also want to use such a great platform to enhance our exchange and
communication with local customers, business partners and other stakeholders
as we are committed to the long-term development in China,” Palazzi told
Xinhua, who will attend the Metro exhibition booth on behalf of the
management board.
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Palazzi also wishes to explore CIIE to discover more business partners for
future cooperation in imports so that Metro will be further empowered to
provide quality products to meet demands of Chinese customers.
Metro has also confirmed its participation in the next year’s CIIE.
Meanwhile, German software corporation SAP also confirmed its
participation and told Xinhua that CIIE provides a new platform for global
businesses to collaborate and promotes common prosperity of the world economy
and trade.
SAP believed that this event is a great opportunity to share its expertise
as well as learn from others about the changing industry dynamics.
“We look forward to meeting companies we can collaborate with as we are
always seeking to expand our ecosystem of partners,” the SAP statement read.
The Association of German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) assumes
the role of CIIE’s organizer in Germany and encourages German enterprises to
showcase their competitive products and services through the new platform.
According to the Berlin-based association, a total of 170 German companies
will participate in the upcoming CIIE.
CIIE will be an opportunity and an important gateway for German companies
to enter the Chinese market, said Thomas Koenig, DIHK’s East Asia Director.
“We are confident that CIIE is one of the first steps for making sure that
there are good conditions for German companies to do business in China,” he
told Xinhua in a recent interview.
It is a wonderful opportunity for German companies to celebrate their
successes in China already. So lots of companies that are established in
China will showcase their talent and their products, Koenig said.
But it is also a wonderful opportunity for new German companies, which
have so far not really discovered China’s potential as a new destination for
their products and ideas, he added.
So far, more than 2,800 companies from over 130 countries and regions have
confirmed their participation in the CIIE.
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