BEIJING- China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC) arranged a program for journalists from around the world to visit a number of industrial zones in capital Beijing on Friday.

Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park was the first place that they visited.

Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, supervised by the Beijing Municipality, and implemented by Shunyi District, the Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park is China’s first demonstration park with Germany themed on “economic and technical cooperation”.

Capitalizing on core of two zones (i.e., South Zone and North Zone), the Industrial Park coordinates with Beijing Capital International Airport, New China International Exhibition Center, Central Villa District and other supportive facilities in “multi-point” development, as it is tasked to outreach to the Shunyi District overall in the future.

A wide array of pilot programs have been launched to create enabling environment for innovation and start-ups, and enhance globalized protection of intellectual property, with priority given to the development of a globalized living and business environment. Positioned as “a key entity to implement and undertake the Sino-German Economic and Technological Cooperation Forum mechanism, and a key platform to promote two-way economic and technical exchanges and innovative cooperation that China has with German and with Europe”, the Industrial Park prioritizes three pillar industries including new-energy intelligent automobiles, intelligent equipment and digital economy as well as advanced manufacturing services to support industrial development.

Over the course of development in two years, a cluster of key German-funded enterprises, represented by Benz, BMW, Ameco, Bosch, and Wilo, have established presence in the Industrial Park.

On the basis of Shunyi District’s existing cooperation with Germany, significant milestones have been reached, including a 50 percent growth of newly-joined German-funded businesses to a total of 102, a 50 percent growth of newly-joined German hidden champions to a total of 28; the establishment of China’s first foreign-owned insurance wealth management business; and the establishment of Beijing Municipality’s first foreign-funded vocational training agency in the area of intelligent manufacturing. In 2023, total industrial scale reached CNY 40 billion.

China-Germany Plaza in Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park

The China-Germany Plaza serves as the “first window” of the Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park, with a total area of 48,600 square meters (including 31,100 square meters of office area, and 17,500 square meters of auxiliary facilities).

Equipped with a myriad of functions such as headquarter, research and development, incubation, business and finance services, the Plaza mainly accommodates German hidden champions, small and medium-sized enterprises, advanced manufacturing service providers, and business associations, attracting global leading innovative and industrial talents.

Operational since January 2022, the China-Germany Plaza now hosts more than 30 German-funded companies and R&D service providers, including two projects by Global 500 businesses (i.e., Industrial 4.0 Innovation Center by Bosch and Intelligent Logistics Project by Volkswagen Group China); 8 German hidden champions including German high-precision machine tool manufacturer Hüeller Hille and German metal recycling tech business Vastalta; 21 innovative SMEs jointly funded by China and Germany including mediCAD Hectec (Beijing) Digital Meditech Center. Additionally, the Plaza is supported by comprehensive service providers in auditing, legal services and intellectual property rights, including China-German (Europe) International Culture Exchange Platform, Beijing Intelligent Property Right Work Station, and Judge’s Station. Commercial facilities such as Yanjing’s LIONK beer bar and cafeteria have joined the Plaza, reaching an 95% occupancy rate. Currently, 220 staff and 15 German executives and engineers work there.

Bosch Industrial 4.0 Innovation Center

Founded in 1886, Bosch Group is a Global 500 company that has established presence in automobiles and intelligent transport technologies, industrial technologies, consumer goods, energy and architectural technologies. As a top manufacturer of automobile components globally, Bosch Group is one of the originators of German Industry 4.0. 

Bosch Industrial 4.0 Innovation Center was jointly established by Bosch Group and Shunyi District government in Feb 2020 as a global innovation center. With international exhibition space located on the ground floor of the China-Germany Plaza in Beijing China-Germany Industrial Park, tasked to provide one-stop services including factory planning, diagnosis consultancy, project landing, transformation coaching, and talent cultivation, this facility is a signature project among the first group of implemented China-German cooperation programs. With a total investment of CNY 50 million, it sets to provide planning and upgrading services to 30 manufacturers annually. Up to now, the Innovation Center has assisted more than 60 corporate clients including Shougang Cold-Rolling, Beijing Hyundai, BAIC Off-Road, and Beijing Tcmages Pharmaceutical with transformation and project implementation services, in areas of new-energy smart automobiles, aerospace, equipment manufacturing, and biomedicine. With the support of Bosch Industrial 4.0 Innovation Center, 18 companies operating in Shunyi District have been accredited “Beijing Intelligent Factory and Digitalized Workshop”, driving up the intelligent manufacturing investment from Shunyi District businesses by more than CNY 250 million. 

BCIA Airport Economic Zone

The BCIA Airport Economic Zone was the other sites that the journalists visited on Friday. The zone is the birthplace of airport economy in China.

Located adjacent to BCIA, the zone encompasses a land area of 15.6 square kilometers, including the 5.46-sq-km Beijing Tianzhu FTZ, with an outreach of another 115.7 square kilometers. Accumulating the strengths of the pilot FTZ, comprehensive pilot zone for further opening up the service sector, and the Tianzhu FTZ, BCIA Airport Economic Zone focuses on airport-oriented industries such as aviation services, cross-border trade, sci-tech innovation, business conference and exhibition, and finance. It is a global leader and demonstration for the development of airport economy.

The zone gathers more than 4,700 enterprises from 30 countries and regions around the world, including 469 ones above the designated scale, which in 2023 registered more than RMB300 billions of operating revenue, ranking first in the China Airport Economy Development Index list. Beijing Tianzhu FTZ registered an import and export volume of RMB122.83 billion, of which RMB117.78 billion was import, up 41.0 percent and 42.8 percent YOY respectively, ranking ninth in the performance evaluation of all FTZs in China and returning to the A level.

Sinopharm-FTZ Logistics Co., Ltd.

The Sinopharm-FTZ Logistics Co., Ltd. (Sinopharm-FTZ) was another site visited by the media from around the world.

Sinopharm-FTZ is a member company of Sinopharm.

Located at the BCIA Airport Economic Zone, the company covers a land area of 80 mu (about 5.33 hectares) with a total floor area of 26,000 square meters. It was completed and put into use in 2014 in full compliance with GSP requirements. Committed to becoming a world-leading pharmaceutical service provider, Sinopharm-FTZ has provided services across the supply chain for world-renowned pharmaceutical companies like NOVARTIS over the years.

It is worth mentioning that China International Press Communication Center (CIPCC), under the China Public Diplomacy Association (CPDA), has initiated a program to build a platform for the media from countries around the world, especially developing countries, to observe China and study development in this country.

The program aimed at media exchange was halted in 2020 and 2021 due to the Covid-19 epidemic.

In each edition of the program, journalists from all around the world gather together to get familiar with modern China and exchange their experiences in the field of journalism.

In the 2024 edition of the program, scheduled to be held from late February until late June, over 100 journalists from more than 90 countries are participating.

Photo: A Sinopharm director briefs the international journalists on the company’s activities at the place of Sinopharm-FTZ Logistics Co. in Beijing on Friday (Photo By Mahnaz Abdi)