Xu Kunlin, Governor of Jiangsu, visited Germany from September 16th to 18th. He attended the Jiangsu Germany Industrial Cooperation Forum and delivered a keynote speech, met with the Governor of North Rhine-Westphalia and some German enterprise executives, held a symposium on Jiangsu's investment in Europe, visited BMW headquarters, XCMG European R&D Center, and the Chinese Consulates General in Munich and Dusseldorf.
Representatives of over 400 German companies, as well as economic and trade partners from Denmark, France, and the Netherlands, participated in the Jiangsu Germany Industrial Cooperation Forum held in Dusseldorf to jointly explore and share cooperation opportunities.
Xu Kunlin welcomed all the guests attending the forum and expressed gratitude to those from all walks of life who have long supported the development of Jiangsu.
He said that the meeting between President Xi Jinping and German Chancellor Schultz in November last year clarified the ideas for developing Sino-German relations under the new situation.
Noting that Jiangsu has a profound relationship with Germany, and economic and trade cooperation and friendly exchanges have become a vivid epitome of the friendship between the Chinese and German people, Governor Xu hoped that both sides can work together to implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries, further enrich new areas of industrial cooperation, expand new increments of trade cooperation, stimulate new momentum of innovative cooperation, deeply explore new opportunities for green cooperation, continue to write a new chapter in people-to-people and cultural cooperation, and create more practical examples and exciting samples of Sino-German cooperation.
Senior executives from companies such as Bosi Home Appliances, XCMG, Siemens, Rotec, Danfoss, and Evonik Industries delivered speeches. The forum witnessed the signing of 26 cooperation projects with a total investment of 2 billion US dollars.
During his visit to BMW headquarters, Xu Kunlin said that Jiangsu has a complete industrial chain supply chain and huge market demand, making it a highly competitive gathering area for the new energy vehicle industry. He hoped that BMW will combine its technological and brand advantages with Jiangsu's development opportunities, continuously increase investment in Jiangsu, accelerate project progress, and steadily increase production capacity, share the development dividends of Jiangsu with a strategic perspective and advanced layout.
During a meeting with Xiao Song, the Global Executive Vice President of Siemens and Chairman, President & CEO Siemens Greater China, Xu Kunlin remarked that Siemens has long played a leading role in Sino-German cooperation by investing in and building a number of iconic and leading projects in Jiangsu. He expected Siemens to continue promoting its development in Jiangsu by making large investment in the province.
When visiting XCMG's European R&D Center to gain a detailed understanding of its development history and technological innovation, Xu Kunlin demanded the integration of European R&D resources and Jiangsu manufacturing potential so as to continuously promote the development of core components and technology, and open up high-end markets with more high-quality products.
During a discussion with the heads of some Jiangsu-invested enterprises in Europe, Xu Kunlin said that Europe is one of the regions with the strongest technological innovation strength and the most developed manufacturing industry in the world. Therefore, Jiangsu's enterprises must firmly take the path of international development, practice their internal skills in open innovation, strengthen the connection and interaction between domestic and foreign industrial chains, and continuously improve their cross-border operational capabilities and core competitiveness.
During his meeting with Hendrick Wuest, minister president of North-Rhine Westphalia, Xu Kunlin hoped that both sides would further strengthen communication and exchange at the regional level, promote cooperation in fields such as green energy, biomedicine, energy conservation and environmental protection, and make development achievements benefit more people. Wuest said that North-Rhine Westphalia will continue to expand and deepen all-round and multi-level exchanges and cooperation with Jiangsu so as to achieve high-level mutual benefit and win-win results.
Jiangsu and North-Rhine Westphalia are the earliest twinned cities between China and Germany, and this year marks the 35th anniversary of their friendship.
