Jens Hildebrandt, Executive Director of the German Chamber of Commerce in North and Northeast China, and Chief Representative of the Beijing Representative Office of the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry talks about the growth and gains of the German Chamber of Commerce in China since its participation in the first CIIE. Jens remarks that the “effect of CIIE” is real, and there are some successful cases, all helping to establish a sound picture of CIIE. Almost all German companies have seen the growth prospects of the Chinese market in the next decade and are eager to participate in China’s development.

As the German Chamber of Commerce, we have been in this market for over 25 years. We are here to take care of these 5000 German companies, with half of them being members of the German Chamber of Commerce. The German Chamber of Commerce has participated from the beginning of the CIIE, and the Chinese Ministry of Commerce reached out to our headquarters organization in German DIHK to discuss CIIE. Then, with our office in Shanghai, we organized the first German pavilion at the first CIIE, which I must say was very successful. I think it was through this experience that companies also signed contracts worth 17 billion US dollars, thus actually gaining tangible results. It was an opportunity for companies to market themselves. Small- and medium-sized enterprises through CIIE could boost their scale in the market because they grasped the opportunity for their marketing.

I already been to CIIE three times, and I was very impressed because I saw a diverse picture of many countries participating and showcasing their new technologies, especially in the field of high tech and decarbonization. For German companies, CIIE participation paid off and was successful in many ways. For example, a small- and medium-sized enterprise in the welding business Carl Cloos, signed a large MOU for over 0.6 billion RMB at the CIIE. CIIE also helped build a long-lasting relationship with suppliers and also customers. For example, the German chemical industry company Evonik, signed a long-term agreement with an automotive supplier at one of the CIIEs. Another case is that a small enterprise EASY MOTION SKIN Tec GmbH, received massive exposure through CIIE participation, because they had been able to also secure media exposure and could show their products to the Chinese public through that.

Looking back at 50 years of bilateral relations, I think China has been Germany’s biggest trading partner for six consecutive years now. So far, we will run a German pavilion again at the CIIE. Now we will operate the German Pavilion again at the Expo. We are promoting CIIE and planning also a lot of site events during the CIIE. The next step to make CIIE even more valuable is to make it a really international fair. Almost all German companies have seen the growth prospect of the next decade in China, which is why they are very eager to see and participate in the development of China.