German investment continues to prosper

With China embarking on a new phase of green and innovation-driven growth, German companies from the high-end manufacturing sector remain steadfast in their view that investing in the country is a smart strategy in the long run, said business executives and market watchers.

To ease pressure caused by factors ranging from waning global goods demand to geoeconomic fragmentation, China has accelerated the pace of releasing its market potential, said Wang Huiyao, president of the Center for China and Globalization, a Beijing-based think tank.

Multinational corporations, especially those from Germany, France, Sweden, the United States, Japan and South Korea, have been tapping market trends and speeding up their investment layout, especially in areas like high-end manufacturing and consumption, as well as low-carbon and exhibition-related businesses, he said.

German manufacturer BSH Home Appliances Corp has been heading in that direction. It plans to invest more in digitalization-themed innovation in the coming years.

With China boosting policy support to increase consumer spending and unleash the country's purchasing potential — a key force that propels the nation's economic growth-Alexander Dony, BSH's chief sales and marketing officer, said the Munich-headquartered group will increase its investment in multiple fields, including artificial intelligence and research and development.

"Our new R&D center in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, has more than 800 engineers, making it the largest comprehensive R&D center for our group in the world. Currently, about 90 percent of our products are developed and produced locally," he said.

"As China is the driving force behind global innovation, we must make early arrangements and expand our presence in these areas, as well as introducing new products with a wider price range to attract more consumers," said Dony.

Echoing that sentiment, Gao Yan, CEO for China at Thyssenkrupp, the German industrial engineering conglomerate, said China's progress in clean energy has been fast, from technological reserves to resource layout, under the green policies.

"We also believe what industrial forecasts say — that China's green hydrogen market will account for about half of the world's total by 2030," said Gao.

"With such a large market, we surely will be part of it."

Driven by both domestic and foreign automakers' orders in China, especially the nation's new energy vehicle makers, Thyssenkrupp invested in a new plant in Kunshan, Jiangsu province, in 2022 to expand its auto body business.

"We hope that by further strengthening local capabilities and resources, we can not only better serve the local needs of our global customers, but better meet the domestic market and emerging customers' needs and expectations," Gao added.

To promote high-standard opening-up, China will expand opening-up this year in alignment with high-standard international trade rules, and will open its doors wider to the world with a better business environment and services, according to information released by the Ministry of Commerce.