REGIONAL> Highlights
"We love the new"comes to China
By Song Wenwei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-03-27 13:34

Christa Thoben answers questions during the news conference.

NANJING: Germany’s North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) state government is making efforts to promote the campaign of “We Love the New” in China in a bid to enhance economic cooperation between the two countries.

“China is now one of our most important business partners as we have conducted fruitful economic exchanges and cooperation over the past several decades,” said Christa Thoben, minister of economy, small and medium-sized enterprises and energy of NRW, at a press conference in Nanjing on March 26.

Jiangsu, one of the most developed provinces in China, has achieved great successes in its cooperation with NRW since 1986 when it signed a partnership agreement with them A dozen of Jiangsu enterprises have invested in NRW over the years and made great developments.

“We are happy to have invested in NRW because our experience with them shows that the local government is very helpful and provides all kinds of support for our business,” said Zhu Guoping, president of Feida Group.

Gernman and Chinese entrepreneurs hold up a banner reading "WE LOVE THE NEW".　

German and Chinese entrepreneurs at the press conference.

The number of Chinese enterprises investing in NRW reflects the ideal investment and development opportunities available. There were only 100 Chinese enterprises in NRW in 2003, but that number increased to 600 by the end of 2008.

Likewise, 2,700 enterprises and companies from NRW have come to invest in China, including Dorma, Oschatz Group, Phoenix Contact Co Ltd and others.

“The cooperation between NRW and Jiangsu is fruitful and has helped both of our economic growth in the past,” said Christa Thoben, adding that she hopes more business people from Jiangsu will invest in NRW.

China is now the fourth largest import and ninth largest export country of NRW. In 2008, trade volume between China and NRW reached 21 billion euros.

“Facing the global economic crisis, we should be more confident and make more efforts to maintain the good relationship between us so as to develop better,” said Christa Thoben.

Nanjing will see the second leg of the “We Love the New” campaign in China, followed by Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

The NRW government launched the promotion in October, 2008 with the aim of attracting more investment worldwide to the state.

China Daily Jiangsu Bureau