Economic ties between China and Germany remained strong and the prospect of bilateral cooperation was bright despite a slowdown in China's economy, said business leaders on Thursday.
"We didn't see a slowdown of Chinese investment in Germany. Chinese enterprises are sticking to their plans to expand abroad," said Yan Jianxun, head of Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Germany, in a business meeting in Berlin.
Currently, there are around 2,000 Chinese companies operating in Germany, China's biggest trading partner in Europe. In 2014, China became the biggest investing country in Germany with a record number of investment projects.
"Chinese investment in Germany is still at its initial stage," Yan said, by investing in Germany, Chinese companies could gain know-how and technologies, as well as advanced management skills.
According to him, an adjustment of China's growth model, stressing quality over quantity and seeking to develop a green economy, provides "great potential" for China's future cooperation with Germany which is famed for high manufacturing quality and its environment-friendly image.
"Our cooperation mode will be more varied in the future," he added.
Huawei, a leading player in information and communication technology (ICT), opened its European headquarters in Germany in 2007. It now hires some 1,800 people in Germany, most of them local employees.
"China has advantages in ICT industry," said Torsten Kuepper, Vice President of Huawei Germany, "Huawei wishes to find more and more partners in Germany" which is on a track of digitalization.
Ulrich Ott, Chief Executive of Clariant, a chemical company headquartered in Switzerland but runs business around the world, said his company was "very optimistic" about the prospect of Chinese market, and made nearly 25 percent of its total investment in China.
"We are fully confident in China," Ott said, "the country has the potential of sustainable growth."
Such confidence was shared by Tino Zeiske, Senior Vice President of Metro, who said the German retail giant was catching the trend of online shopping in China and formed a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba earlier this month to enable German retailers to sell their products directly to Chinese consumers via Alibaba's online platform.
Airbus Group's Head of Public Affairs Germany Alexander Reinhardt also said the multinational aerospace corporation noticed a trend of growing demand for aircraft, especially helicopters, in China and was transferring more manufacturing business from Europe to Tianjin.
"Despite its economic slowdown, China remains an important strategic partner for Germany," said German Deputy Economy Minister Matthias Machning, adding that both economies relied on manufacturing industry and could cooperate in developing a common standard in "Industry 4.0", or digital factory.
"Our close relations will not change in coming years," Machning said, "instead, it will be further enhanced."
