A delegation of representatives from Changsha City and the All-German Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations held a symposium on March 31 in Beijing to expand new space for China-Germany economic and trade cooperation.

At the symposium. (Photo/Zhao Lingyu)

Changsha established sister city ties with Germany's Augsburg and Neuruppin 20 years ago. In recent years, the economic and trade cooperation between Changsha and Germany has become increasingly close, thanks to the gradual improvements in China-Europe freight trains, international air routes, and other fast channels. Today, Germany has become Changsha's largest trading partner in Europe, with the bilateral trade value totaling 7.63 billion yuan in 2023. German companies such as BASF, Volkswagen, Drobergen, Metro, and Bosch have settled in Changsha successively, boosting the city's industrial development and improving people's well-being.

Founded in 1998, the All-German Federation of Overseas Chinese Associations is the first all-German Chinese association and is currently the largest Chinese association in Germany. The delegation members from the federation were composed of Germany-based entrepreneurs and business association presidents. Xiao Jinping, director of the Liaison Office of Changsha Municipal People's Government in Beijing, hopes that the federation will build a bridge of friendly cooperation between China and Germany, seize great opportunities brought about by the high-quality development in Changsha, and promote more projects to be implemented in Changsha. At the symposium, representatives from the Changsha Municipal Bureau of Commerce and the Bureau of Commerce and Market Supervision of Hunan Xiangjiang New Area successively made presentations on the investment promotions, inviting German entrepreneurs to Changsha for inspection, negotiation, investment, entrepreneurship, and business start-up.

Six representatives from the federation including Fu Hanhao and Zhou Kaifen delivered speeches at the symposium. They were impressed by the speed, strength, and warmth of Changsha's high-quality economic and social development, and expressed strong willingness to seek cooperation in Changsha in construction machinery, scientific and technological education, cultural tourism, and other industries.

The symposium was facilitated by Long Yuxiang, who is among Changsha's first batch of investment ambassadors and the executive chairman of the China International Culture Communication Center.