From March 4 to 7(local time), Zhou Hongbo, Secretary of the CPC Nanjing Municipal Committee, led a delegation to Germany for the “Visit Germany, Choose Nanjing” business events.The delegation visited multinational headquarters with investment in Nanjing, met with the mayor of Stuttgart (Nanjing’s friendly cooperative city) and the Chinese Consuls General both in Munich and Frankfurt. They also held economic and trade cooperation promotion event to advance key projects and attract new investments.

Munich, a major German economic, cultural and technological center, holds significant positions in such industries as automobiles, machinery, electrical engineering, and chemicals, etc. 

In Munich, Zhou met with Qiu Xuejun, Consul General in Munich and visited the headquarters of BMW Group, Siemens Group, BSH Group, among others.

Zhou introduced Nanjing’s economic and social development and the operation of R&D and manufacturing centers of these companies in Nanjing, with their future investment plans. Zhou emphasized that Nanjing attaches great importance to cooperation with German business, with 304 German-invested projects now operating in Nanjing, generating annual revenue over 45 billion yuan. He said Nanjing is accelerating the construction of a globally influential industrial technology innovation center and hoped German companies would focus on industrial technology innovation, seize opportunities in artificial intelligence, and expand cooperation fields to co-build an industrial ecosystem.

Stuttgart, Nanjing’s friendly cooperative city, is the capital of Germany’s Baden-Württemberg state and one of the most developed cities in trade and services.

On March 6, Stuttgart mayor Frank Nopper welcomed Zhou and his delegation at the city hall. Both sides noted that this year marks the 30th anniversary of the friendly ties between the two cities, with a broad prospect for cooperation. Companies like Bosch and Messe Stuttgart have invested in Nanjing, so has Nanjing’s TICA Group in Stuttgart, yielding mutual benefits. They look forward to exploring more opportunities for innovation and common development.

That morning, the Nanjing-Stuttgart Economic and Trade Cooperation Meeting was held in Stuttgart, attended by over 230 guests from German industry associations, government departments, and multinationals like KUKA AG and Coperion GmbH. Projects in strategic cooperation, industrial investment, financial and exhibition services, technological and cultural services were signed. 

Zhou delivered a keynote speech on “Embracing the New Wave of Industrial Technology Innovation, Writing a New Chapter of Economic and Trade Cooperation,” outlining four cooperation priorities: jointly creating industrial cooperation benchmark projects in key industries like chemicals and automobiles; jointly building an innovation highland for hidden champions through systematic cultivation; jointly conducting digital economy dialogues in software and information services; and jointly competing in emerging fields like artificial intelligence and low-altitude economy.

Zhou mentioned that Nanjing has been rated as a pilot city for China’s business environment, while advancing a first-class market-oriented, law-based business environment with international standards by implementing China’s Foreign Investment Law to enhance policy certainty, factor abundance, rule connectivity, and cultural inclusiveness for foreign companies.

Huang Yiyang, Consul General in Frankfurt attended the event. He said Nanjing’s continuous optimization of the business environment reflects China’s appeal as an investment destination. The combination of German quality and innovation with Chinese efficiency and vitality will lead to mutual success.

In Stuttgart, Zhou also visited TICA-Smardt’s production base, stating that Nanjing will support local enterprises’ international strategies and appeal to growing stronger by making full advantage of both domestic and international markets and resources.

In Ludwigshafen, Zhou met with Dr Stephan Kothrade, BASF Executive Board Member and Chief Technology Officer, discussing further strategic cooperation, project investment, innovation deepening, and petrochemical chain upgrading.

The delegation also visited Messe Stuttgart and Messe Hannover and met with executives from Siemens Healthineers, discussing build-up of economic and trade exhibition platforms and advanced medical innovation centers.