Investing in China brings opportunities for prominent European companies

This file photo taken in 2018 shows a factory of German company Kern-Liebers in Taicang, east China's Jiangsu Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

In 1993, German company Kern-Liebers invested 500,000 German marks in Taicang, a city in east China's Jiangsu Province, embarking on its road of development in the foreign country with only six employees and a 400-square-meter factory house.

Three decades on, after 11 rounds of capital increases, the wire springs provider possesses factories spanning 70,000 square meters in the Chinese city and has witnessed an annual output value of 1.5 billion yuan (about 207.4 million U.S. dollars), accounting for the largest proportion of its global footprint.

"We have always felt strong support from the local government, and the difficulties and challenges we encountered were solved through our close cooperation," said Udo von Reinersdorff, chief financial officer of Kern-Liebers, at a roundtable held by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce last week in Stuttgart, Germany.

The event is one of an ongoing series of "Invest in China" roundtables that are touring European countries including Denmark, France and Italy. It has attracted a lot of well-known European enterprises from such fields as green energy, smart manufacturing, biomedicine, and high-end equipment manufacturing.

Participants shared their stories of vital investment in China and expressed their recognition of the Chinese government's efforts to facilitate the operations of foreign companies in the country, as well as their willingness to share future opportunities with the vibrant Chinese market.

Vigorous vitality

German companies are optimistic about China's economic prospects, which is important to Germany, said Hans-Peter Friedrich, a member of Germany's Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.

A report from the German Economic Institute shows that the country's total direct investment in China reached a record high of 11.9 billion euros (about 12.9 billion dollars) in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 4.3 percent. The value accounted for over 10 percent of Germany's total overseas investment, the highest level since 2014.

Danish company group GN Store Nord came to China 150 years ago and started close cooperation with the country via a telegraph line. The headset manufacturer has now expanded its business in China into three major fields, including hearing aids, enterprise communications support and gaming equipment.

"The Chinese market today is not only very important for us, but also very important for global companies to fully function and be successful. Many things work well and we are grateful for the partnership," said the group's CEO Peter Karlstromer.