Event reports
The Yangtze-Delta is one of the most important regions worldwide for German investments, as there are just as many German businesses in this area as there are in the entire United States. These companies contribute to the structural change in Shanghai and its bordering provinces because they increasingly produce high quality products and have commenced to carry out Research & Development.
A new focus of the activities of German corporations in China lies in energy saving and environmentally friendly technologies. Against this background, the students visited the German Energy Center & College (GECC) in the district of Pudong in the first part of the excursion. As part of this study trip, the regional director of the GECC for China, Johannes Grünhage, presented perspectives for the application of energy saving technologies in buildings in China. The GECC exhibits these products and they are also built into the GECC . China has an enormous potential for saving energy in buildings, which contribute to 40% of energy consumption. To use this potential, there need to be more incentives to make buildings more energy efficient, for example by raising the energy prices.
In the second part of the excursion, the scholars visited the German Chambers of Commerce (AHK) in Shanghai. Christoph Angerbauer, General Manager of German Industry & Commerce (GIC) in Shanghai explained the functions of the Chamber of Commerce and presented prospects for the German economic activities in the region. He sees an importance change for the situation of German businesses in the increased competition with Chinese companies, whose products are rapidly gaining in quality. Many German investors see the lack of access to qualified personnel as one major bottle neck for their operations in China, which is why they are increasingly investing in training and education. The AHK supports these efforts by offering training programmes and administering exams as part of the German “dual educational system”. Mr. Angerbauer also emphasised the growing importance of German ecologically friendly technologies, which enjoy a growing demand in China.
