Taicang Day in Munich celebrates German ties

China and Germany have further deepened cooperation at a regional level with a Taicang Day event being held in Munich on Wednesday, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The event coincided with an economic forum on innovation and cooperation between Germany and Suzhou, Jiangsu province. It attracted more than 200 attendees, including government officials, experts, businesspeople and scholars from both sides.

Home to more than 460 German-funded companies, Taicang, a county-level city in Suzhou, is known as the hometown of German enterprises in China and also has a very good reputation among Germany's business community.

Every year since 2008, Germany has held Taicang Day and it has become a platform for bilateral economic, trade and cultural exchanges.

Led by the Suzhou municipal bureau of commerce, the Chinese delegation conducted exchanges with many Fortune Global 500 companies, global industry leaders, and well-known international financial institutions in France and Germany.

Speaking at the event, Zhai Qian, minister of the economic and commercial office of the Chinese embassy in Germany, said: "What the Suzhou government has done is commendable as the municipality has to overcome various hardships in this challenging time to make this event happen."

He pointed out that it is the first large-scale overseas economic and trade visit made from China over the last three years with more than 100 people, and such pragmatism and dedication deserve applause.

Markus Wittmann, head of the international department at the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs and Regional Development, said the event is highlighting that investment from Germany and Bavaria in China has been very successful over the decades.

"I think it is very important that we have in-person meetings again, something that we could not have during the pandemic, and now we can exchange how to go from the successful stories we have seen in the past to more successes in the future," he said.

Huge market

Wittman pointed out that one interesting aspect is that German companies, having heavily invested in Taicang, are paying one-third of tax revenues in Taicang. "This is a win-win as German companies have a huge market that they are successfully operating in and making profits, while the local governments in China also have a profit from tax," he said.

In a recorded video speech, Wang Xiangyuan, Party chief of Taicang, said: "We hope exchanges and cooperation with Germany will be further strengthened, and efforts will be made to achieve mutual benefit and win-win results in many more fields."

Taicang has become one of the regions in China with one of the highest levels of investment from Germany.

In 1993, the first German company, Kern-Liebers, established its business in the Taicang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone. More German enterprises followed suit since then.

Last year, Suzhou's trade with Germany totaled more than $14.81 billion, up 33.9 percent year-on-year, accounting for more than 6 percent of China's total trade volume with Germany.

Christian Sommer, chairman of German Center Taicang, was impressed with the commitments and efforts made by the Suzhou and Taicang governments in constructing in-depth relations with Germany.

"I am very pleased to see at the event that companies see the potential and the willingness to cooperate, which in itself is already the positive signal," Sommer said."Therefore, I know this trip will have a positive impact on the German-Chinese relationship."