Foshan zone important for Sino-German cooperation

Expo deepens city's collaboration with Europe, Xu Jingxi reports.

The Sino-German Industrial Services Zone in the Shunde district of Foshan, Guangdong province, is developing into an important platform for comprehensive cooperation between the two countries, officials said at a recent expo.

The China (Guangdong) International Internet Plus Exposition was held in the zone last week, with a special focus on cooperation with Germany.

A conference titled Made in China 2025 Meets German Industry 4.0 on Sept 10 attracted more than 500 participants, who brainstormed opportunities in intelligent manufacturing and how to push forward the two national strategies.

The same day, the Sino-German Industrial City Alliance initiative was jointly launched by six Chinese cities and five German cities.

In addition, the Shunde district and Deutsche Messe AG signed a partnership agreement to build the Guangdong (Tanzhou) International Convention and Exhibition Center in Shunde.

"The three events deepened Foshan's cooperation with Germany and Europe," said Huang Xizhong, chief of the Shunde district government.

Promising experiment

Established in July 2012, the Sino-German Industrial Services Zone was part of a bilateral investment agreement signed by the Ministry of Commerce of China and the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology of Germany in August 2012.

The zone is different from many other industrial parks in China that focus on large manufacturing projects, according to Rong Qiang, the zone's representative in Germany.

"What makes our zone different is that we have opened up an experiment in the field of industrial services."

Industrial services cover a wide range of areas including research and development, mergers and acquisitions, training, testing, finance, insurance and legal consultations.

Rong said the services industry accounts for at least half of the economy in developed countries.

The proportion of the manufacturing industry in Foshan's economy is 61.6 percent, with the service industry only making up 36.5 percent.

"By introducing advanced technologies and ideas from Germany, the zone aims to help Foshan upgrade its manufacturing industry and restructure its economy," Rong said.

The total output value of Foshan's large and medium-sized industrial companies was nearly 1.9 trillion yuan ($298 billion) in 2014, ranking fifth of all Chinese cities.

"Foshan may have the most comprehensive industrial system that Germans can find in China to apply their technologies," Rong said.

He said an intellectual property rights court will also be set up in the zone to protect the rights of businesses.

The number of projects that the zone has signed or is talking about with European investors is nearly 100. German partners include powerful companies such as insurance giant Allianz and leading robotics company KUKA AG.

New milestone

The recent agreement signed between the Shunde government and Deutsche Messe marks a new milestone, according to Rong.

"We would like to introduce an industry into the zone rather than attract single enterprises," Rong said.

"Deutsche Messe AG operates the Hannover Messe, the world's biggest industrial fair, so tens of thousands of manufacturers will come to Foshan for exhibitions.

"When businesses come to display their products, they may also open a factory or a branch if they find a market here."

Foshan is the second Chinese city after Shanghai in which Deutsche Messe has chosen to build a venue.

The exhibition center's location in Shunde's northern area is ideal in terms of transportation, according to Mark Schloesser, president director of PT Deutsche Messe Venue Operations.

A circular railway under construction will link Foshan with important transport hubs in Guangzhou, including the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport and Guangzhou South Railway Station for high-speed trains.

In Shunde's north, where the zone is located, there are four stations along the railway. It will take only 40 minutes to travel from the area to Baiyun Airport, according to Lie Haijian, director of the zone's administrative committee.

The exhibition venue is also located on the bank of a river, which enables easier transportation of heavy equipment to be exhibited, Schloesser added.

"There are a lot of shows held in nearby Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, but we have our own path to success by displaying the manufacturing capacity of Foshan and surrounding cities," he said.

According to Lie, the exhibition center will be operational in September next year.

He added that the Shunde district government is asking Deutsche Messe AG to hold fairs on the sidelines of the Hannover Messe in the venue in Shunde.

City alliance

The Sino-German Industrial Services Zone organized more than 60 local enterprises from Shunde district to visit Germany in the first half of this year.

More such business trips will be arranged, Lie said.

The initial members of the city alliance include Foshan, Jiangmen, Zhaoqing, Jieyang and Yunfu in Guangdong; Zhuzhou in Hunan province; as well as Bremen, Hannover, Wuppertal, Osnabruck and Aachen in Germany.

The alliance will be officially established in June next year, Lie said.

"Representatives of the city alliance members will sit around the table to discuss in what areas the cities are strong and how to complement each other," he said.

Contact the writer through xujingxi@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 09/18/2015 page15)