Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner, visits China
MUNICH / SHANDONG / GUANGDONG Today, Bavaria's Minister of Economic Affairs, Ilse Aigner is travelling to China, accompanied by a 25-person delegation. The minister will visit the emerging provinces of Shandong and Guangdong, and discuss the deepening of existing partnerships at a political level. Aigner: "Chinese companies have a multitude of options for investment in Bavaria. Many companies are on the verge of expanding to Europe. Of course, our point is to convince Chinese companies of the location advantages Bavaria offers. And we have a lot to offer." The Minister of Economic Affairs is accompanied by businesspeople and experts from sectors that include sports and tourism, building, automotive and mechanical engineering.
In Shandong, agreements and cooperations will be concluded between Bavarian and Chinese institutions in the sectors of tourism, sports, architecture, design and urban development. In the province of Guangdong, China's Silicon Valley, discussions will focus on IT and technology topics. The Fraunhofer Gesellschaft and Bavaria's Medical Valley Bayern in Erlangen will bring innovative research projects to China. Also on the programme are visits to various companies, including the Chinese telecommunications and IT giants Huawei, WeChat and Inspur. Moreover, one of the topics of the political discussions will be a direct flight connection between Guangzhou, one of China's largest economic agglomerations, and the airport of Munich. The aim of this flight connection is to further support economic relations and the flow of tourists. A special highlight of the trip will be the joint visit to the football match of Evergrande Taobao Guangzhou against the FC Bayern in the 'Tian He Stadium' in Guangzhou.
Shandong is one of China's strongest provinces in terms of economy. Mechanical engineering, automotive, textiles, rail engineering, household appliances, chemical industry, steel industry and agriculture are all strongly present here. Bavaria and Shandong have partnership links since 1987. Guangdong is Bavaria's partner province since 2004. It is characterised by its enormous importance as a place of industry and trade.