German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived in China's northeastern industrial city of Shenyang, on the last stop of her three day visit. She travelled from Beijing where she held meetings with President Xi Jinping and Premier Li Keqiang.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has arrived Shenyang Taoxian airport at half pass ten this morning, this will be her final stop in China for the fourth round of Sino-German intergovernmental consultation. her schedule of the day is pretty much tied up, after a warm welcome from the governors of Liaoning province and the city of Shenyang , She and her delegation were invited to visit the Mukden palace in Shenyang, which is a must-see historical attraction and the only royal palace in China outside of the forbidden city. And also the official welcoming ceremony with a cultural twists of Manchu - one ethnic minority of China was held at the East gate of the Mukden palace.
The most important part of her schedule of the day is to visit the Sino-German manufacturing industrial park, the area is the key entity for the strategic cooperation of "Made-in-China 2025" and "Industry 4.0"; and companies from the premier league of the world's manufacturing industry like Siemens and automaker BMW have already set foot in the industrial park. The reason why the Sino-German industrial park is playing such a key role in the bilateral cooperation is that: nowadays the German companies are shifting their production facilities to elsewhere in the world due to the high labor-costs in Germany as well as Europe; while China wants to transform its northeastern region whose economy is lagging behind the rest of the country; and Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, is the largest city in northeastern China by population. Germany is Shenyang's number one trading partner with more than 130 Germany-funded companies have set up offices here.
During Merkel's visit to the Sino-German Industrial park later on today, very likely an Intellectual property agreement will be signed by the two countries because German companies prioritize IP protection when coming to China; the local government of Shenyang wants to dispel those concerns of German firms by setting up a special IP bureau along with arbitration and mediation committees. And with the emphasis on the development of smart factories, advanced production and industrial service, the industrial park will help to give the Chancellor a full picture of how China's manufacturing sector is transforming into a powerhouse of high-end products.
