Commerce chamber smooths investment

The Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany has been helping Chinese companies to tap into the German market and make their voices heard since May 2013, its chairman said.[Special coverage]

With more and more Chinese companies coming to Germany to invest, the chamber will assist them in localizing, Chen Fei, rotating chairman of the chamber, told China Daily.

"Our chamber will represent these Chinese enterprises in communicating with governmental authorities, administrative institutions, business organizations and the media and public in Germany," Chen said.

"In contrast to other Chinese chambers, we also have as our members German institutions that are engaged in attracting foreign investments. That will help make the localization of Chinese companies much easier," said Duan Wei, general manager of the chamber.

Chinese investment in Germany reached $830 million last year, an increase of 29 percent from 2012.

Although China's investment in Germany is quite small compared with Germany's investment in China, it has been increasing rapidly in recent years.

The body was launched in May 2013 during Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Germany.

According to Chen, the chamber now has about 300 member enterprises. The member assembly has tapped 19 companies from key industries for China-Germany cooperation, including finance, science and technology, aeronautics and astronautics.

As of now, more than 2,000 Chinese companies are operating in Germany.

"For Chinese companies, the biggest challenge to doing business in Germany is the lack of understanding about local tax and legal regulations. So we offer consultations about German tax and legal systems to our member companies," Duan said.

German Ambassador to China Michael Clauss said Germany welcomes Chinese investment, especially if it comes with strong innovation capability.