Deutsche Bahn to expand procurement from China

Deutsche Bahn AG, one of the world's largest railway operators, is setting up a procurement office in China later this year to expand its pool of global suppliers and hunt for possible partners in Asian markets.

The Germany-based company has already signed a cooperation deal with Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, and included Taiyuan Heavy Industry Co into its qualified supplier group to provide carriage wheels and axles. Besides, it has also held discussions with State-owned train manufacturers CSR Corp and CNR Corp, with an eye on making them its potential suppliers.

"We would like to utilize our annual purchase budget of 9.2 billion euros ($10.04 billion) to source products from the global market. This will help us get the best quality, innovation and price for our products," said Heike Hanagarth, member of the management board for technology and environment at DB.