On 04.06.2021 the BVMW federal executive held an online conference with Mr. Xinwei Wang, the ruling mayor of the 8 million city of Shenyang and his counterparts from the administration and business development.

After a friendly introduction round, Mr. Markus Jerger, BVMW Federal Executive Director and Mr. Andreas Jahn, Member of the Federal Executive Board for Politics and Foreign Trade talked about the association structure and initiative of the SME alliance. Mr. Wenhai Wang, Director of BVMW China Economic Region and Chairman of Foundation introduced the economic and cultural exchanges between the two countries. Mr. Yang Wang, BVMW representative in Beijing, presented the concept of German Center for better cultural as well as economic cooperation between SMEs.

The city of Shenyang hosts up 182 German companies like BMW, BASF and Siemens with many suppliers and productions. With increasing demands for recognition of German settlement and curious population interested in Germany, the idea of a German Center was born and soon attracted the attention and enthusiasm of the city government. The city wants to create framework conditions and infrastructure and assures support and promotion.

As a non-profit foundation, The Foundation of German and Chinese Culture promotes, facilitates and deepens understanding and exchange between China and Germany. In addition to developing its own projects, the Foundation is also a highly expandable platform for establishing and developing projects for cultural, artistic, educational, economic and scientific exchange with third parties. Therefore, Foundation has co-initiated this German Center project from the very beginning and will constantly accompany it.

The German Center is designed to provide several floors of location marketing for companies, municipalities and even federal states that have or are seeking cooperation with China. A permanent exhibition with a series of themes about German history, politics, economy, culture and education will develop views, understanding and experience and at the same time serve as a meeting point for medium-sized businesses from both countries.

A medium-sized business academy is planned, where regular consultations and training courses will be offered, for example in the field of law and tax. One important content is Industry 4.0, the guiding principle for Germany. Companies and experts from both countries will be invited to identify processes, standards and interfaces and work out opportunities for cooperation. This transformation also serves as preparation for real economic exchange under the upcoming Supply Chain Act from 2023.