Germany aims to attract Chinese investment

Country will offer more convenient visa services

Germany's ambassador to China Michael Clauss said Monday that Germany will do more to attract investment from Chinese enterprises, inclu-ding offering more convenient visa application services.

"The cooperative relations between our two countries have become closer since the debt crisis, as the two economies are supplementary with each other in trade and other business sectors, and don't have conflicts of geopolitics," Clauss told a group of reporters in Beijing.

To attract more investment from Chinese companies, the German -Embassy in China will provide more convenient services for Chinese -entrepreneurs when they apply for business visas to Germany, according to Clauss.

The embassy aims to issue visas within 48 hours for applicants planning to go on a business trip to Germany.

To establish a fair business environment, Germany has not erected trade barriers for foreign investors including Chinese companies, according to Clauss.

He also said the German government welcomed Chinese companies to invest in sectors such as high-tech information services, new energy and real estate, noting that cooperation and communication between the two countries will be increased by frequent meetings between leaders of the two countries.

Top leadership meetings between the two countries have become more frequent since Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Germany in March, which was followed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel's visit to China four months later.

On October 9, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrived in Berlin on the first stop of his visits to Germany, Russia and Italy from October 9 to 17.

During his visit to Germany, the two counties inked $18.1 billion worth of trade, investment and technological cooperation deals, according to the -Xinhua News Agency.

Premier Li also urged Germany to increase high-tech exports to China, to support feasibility studies for a China-EU free trade zone, and to help ease the EU's high-tech export restrictions on China.

Germany is China's biggest partner in Europe in terms of trade, technological cooperation and investment, with their bilateral trade exceeding $160 billion in 2013, according to the Chinese central government's website.

Clauss also noted that Chinese companies that have invested in Germany in recent years have a "very positive image" in his country, as they have provided jobs for German people.

For example, Sany Group Co, -China's leading heavy equipment manufacturer, together with Chinese private equity company CITIC Private Equity Advisors, bought German concrete pump maker Putzmeister Holding GmbH in 2012. As part of the deal, Sany paid 324 million euros ($410.5 million) for its 90 percent stake in the German company.

"We used to be confronted with some challenges, including opposition from local employees of Putzmeister who were worried about possible layoffs," Cui Yongqian, vice president of Sany, said at a forum held by the German Embassy in Beijing on Monday.

Cui noted that Sany ensured job positions for all employees of Putzmeister and overcame the challenges.

Putzmeister ran into difficulties during the global financial crisis, but Cui said the company's sales revenue is expected to reach a record high of 1.7 billion euros in 2017.