The People's Government of Hunan Province hosted a Hunan-Germany economic and trade cooperation and exchange conference in Shanghai on the morning of November 6, 2024, seizing the opportunity of the opening of the 7th China International Import Expo. Mao Weiming, deputy secretary of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee and governor of Hunan Province, along with representatives of German enterprises and industry associations, talked about mutually beneficial cooperation and win-win results.

Governor Mao noted that Hunan has been thoroughly studying and implementing the spirit of President Xi Jinping's important speeches and instructions made during his inspection tours in Hunan, striving to write Hunan's own chapter in advancing Chinese modernization. He invited the majority of entrepreneurs to expand their investments, optimize arrangements, and collaborate on research and development in Hunan, to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results through comprehensive communication and collaboration.

Vice Governor Zhou Haibing and Secretary General Qu Hai were also present.

On November 6, Governor Mao attended and addressed the Hunan-Germany economic and trade cooperation and exchange meeting in Shanghai.

Hunan and Germany share a long history of exchanges. In particular, recent years have seen closer economic and trade cooperation and increased people-to-people exchanges between both sides. Hunan's foreign trade with Germany amounted to 15.47 billion CNY in 2023. Between January and September this year, the bilateral import and export value reached 11.23 billion CNY, showing a promising trend.

More than 30 German enterprises such as BASF, Siemens, and SEG have settled in Hunan, while SANY, Zoomlion, and other 31 Hunan enterprises have set up factories in Germany. The two sides have continued to strengthen their partnership in the automotive industry. Germany's direct investment in the industry in Hunan amounts to 800 million USD, accounting for 46.8% of the total. This investment is driving the acceleration of the Hunan automobile industry. The German Small & Medium Enterprises Cluster Zone (Hunan) was inaugurated in Changsha this July. During the January-September period, the number of German tourists visiting Hunan increased by 317.1% year on year, making it an important window for Germany and even Europe to enter the Chinese market.

The meeting.

Speeches were given by Shi Mingde, president of the China Germany Friendship Association and former Chinese ambassador to Germany; Maximilian Butek, chief representative of the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce Shanghai; Carlo D'Andrea, national vice president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and chairman of the Board of the Shanghai Chapter; along with representatives of 12 enterprises and business associations such as Schaeffler, ThyssenKrupp, SAP, ALBA, Messer, SCHUNK, Bayer, BASF-Shanshan Batteries, and German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). They shared their investment and development history in Hunan and expressed confidence in continuing to invest and thrive in the province, hoping to enhance exchanges and cooperation to achieve common development at a deeper level and in a wider field.

Governor Mao thanked the entrepreneurs for their long-term support for Hunan's progress. He accepted that their speeches vividly reflected their "true feelings" of being optimistic about Hunan, "sincere aspirations" of investing in Hunan, "good intentions" for developing Hunan, and "valuable recommendations" for Hunan. He promised to meticulously study the suggestions for the development of Hunan and take actions to realize win-win cooperation.

Participants give speeches at the meeting.

Governor Mao remarked that Hunan will continue to create a market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized business environment, welcoming global investors with an open mind, equality and mutual benefit, and a contractual spirit. We invite all of you to explore, observe, and pursue cooperation and investment projects, working together to achieve win-win results in the new era, he added.

Photos taken by Liu Shangwen.

This article is from the Hunan Provincial Government www.enghunan.gov.cn.

Translator: Yu Jiangjiang

Chinese source: hunan.gov.cn