Berlin / Shanghai,
In a few days, the BWA will open a new office in Shanghai. While others are withdrawing from China, the BWA is strengthening its local presence and, for the first time since the end of the coronavirus pandemic, will once again be represented by a team of several people in the Chinese economic and financial metropolis on the Huangpu River. Time for a look back at more than two decades of German-Chinese business development that connect the BWA with China.
The beginnings: A plea for a global eco-social market economy
Founded in 2003, the BWA was one of the first business associations in Germany to commit to the concept of an eco-social market economy, a concept that advocates sustainability and environmental protection and a balance between economic and ecological objectives in the economy. This was accompanied by a new understanding of foreign trade, which advocated a redesign of globalization based on respectful, sustainable and mutually enriching relationships between developed and developing economies.
With this approach, the BWA met with great interest from interlocutors in and from China. The first sustained exchanges took place on both sides, which intensified further with Chancellor Angela Merkel's inaugural visit to China in 2006 and the new attention it triggered in the German economy. BWA member companies that were already represented in China acted as local representatives for the association.
Setting off and arrival: The 2010 World Expo in Shanghai
EXPO 2010 in Shanghai gave the BWA's relations with China a new boost. The association had been invited in advance to select innovations from its member companies to be presented in an own pavilion at the world exhibition. From May to October 2010, BWA representatives accompanied the World Expo on site and held hundreds of discussions with Chinese visitors who were interested in relationships with Germany and connections to German companies.
The contacts made there led to the organization of delegations with company representatives from both sides to the other country already in the first few weeks of the EXPO. Invitations from Chinese guests to visit their cities and companies at the EXPO were promptly accepted in the months that followed, and in view of the many positive experiences, the BWA Board decided to set up a permanent office in Shanghai the following year, which then began work in the fall of 2011 under the management of Michael Schumann (https://bit.ly/4dLeqh1).
Expansion and consolidation: delegation trips, conferences, meetings
Over the next few years, the BWA led dozens of delegations of German companies and experts to China, resulting in numerous projects, and increasingly also supported Chinese delegations in Germany with market entry and investments. One initial focus was the city of Chongqing, which at the time had a population of 32 million and was planning to build a sustainable industrial park with German expertise (https://bit.ly/47bnHwl).
This was followed by several years of cooperation with the Chinese city of Suzhou in the establishment of Nanopolis, a national center for nanotechnology, as well as the establishment of CHInano, an annual specialist conference and trade fair which, with the involvement of the BWA, quickly became well known and gained international recognition (https://bit.ly/4e99hPX).
During this time, the BWA flanked numerous existing German-Chinese city partnerships, helped to initiate new partnerships and, with its dynamically growing network in China, also supported meetings between German politicians and Chinese mayors, party secretaries and governors.
The BWA organized the first trip to China by its honorary president, the former East German Prime Minister and former German Federal Minister, Dr. Lothar de Maiziére, which led to years of commitment by de Maiziére to German-Chinese relations.
The BWA was soon active in many Chinese cities, introducing its member companies there and helping the Chinese side to build bridges to Germany. Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Suzhou were quickly joined by other major cities such as Dezhou, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Guiyang, Harbin, Jiangyin, Jiaxing, Jinan, Huai'an, Lianyungang, Nanjing, Nanning, Panjin, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Qingdao, Urumuqi, Wuhan, Wuxi, Xi'an and Zhangjiagang.
Chinese companies and Chinese media also quickly became aware of the new association, which was able to help efficiently with issues in Germany in a pragmatic and unconventional way. Well-known companies such as Alibaba, Dahua, Fosun, Geely, Gotion, Haier, Huawei, Nio, Positec and Zongshen took advantage of the BWA's support for their expansion into Germany. At the same time, Michael Schumann began to regularly explain and comment on trends and news from Germany for a Chinese audience - on Chinese television and other media - which further raised the profile of the BWA in China.
In spring 2016, following a meeting between Michael Schumann, now a member of the association's board and still responsible for its China activities, and Lu Ming, a director of the State Administration for Foreign Experts Affairs in Beijing (SAFEA), the BWA – alongside the German Association for International Cooperation (giz) – was given the opportunity to obtain accreditation as an official partner of SAFEA for teaching Chinese training groups from business and administration (https://bit.ly/4giFq9A).
After successfully passing a multi-stage audit, the BWA was licensed and its German head office in Berlin quickly became a popular point of contact for Chinese delegations looking to gain more expertise on Germany. Many entrepreneurs and experts from the ranks of association members benefited from the programs just as much as the guests and made their first encounters with representatives from China during lectures and training sessions. The number of groups increased steadily, with more than 70 delegations from China making their way to Germany via the BWA in 2019.
Findings and insights: Two countries that can learn a lot from each other
Over time, the promotion of economic exchange between Germany and China and the many encounters between people from both countries initiated by the association led to the crystallization of insights and knowledge that would guide the BWA's further work on the topic. While Chinese entrepreneurs on their visits to Germany primarily wanted to learn from Germans, German entrepreneurs in China discovered many innovations and advantages of the local culture that changed their view of the country. Some encounters were bumpy, some were difficult, but as a rule they complemented each other well.
It became clear time and again that Germans and Chinese can learn a lot from each other if they treat each other with respect and take the time to examine each other's cultural background for themselves, and that it is helpful in overcoming prejudices and misunderstandings to remove obstacles that make encounters more difficult - such as the restrictive issuing of visas by German diplomatic missions abroad, a problem that the BWA pointed out early on (https://bit.ly/4g7ggKQ). Another finding was that representatives of German companies, who frequently traveled to China or had their own branches there, generally had more knowledge of the country than representatives from politics and the media, who shaped the image of China in Germany.
Subsequently, the BWA actively promoted the creation of further platforms and formats for German-Chinese encounters and supported its members' initiatives in this regard. A New Year's reception held by the association in 2014 with the former Federal Minister of Economics and Minister President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Wolfgang Clement, provided the impetus for the establishment of a Sino-German Industrial Cities Alliance, which developed into an important platform for municipal cooperation between Germany and China with more than 30 German and Chinese member cities in the years that followed.
In autumn 2019, Michael Schumann, now Chairman of the BWA Board of Directors, founded the "China Bridge" in the premises of the BWA federal office together with former Federal Minister of the Interior and Vice President of the Bundestag Dr. Hans-Peter Friedrich as an independent and non-partisan dialog platform for constructive interaction with China in German politics and the public sphere (https://www.china-bruecke.org). Its members include leading players from business, academia and civil society who have in-depth knowledge of China and an excellent network in China thanks to their many years of experience with China.
Mutual support in difficult times: The corona pandemic
The outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020 caused considerable disruption to the BWA's work in and with China. However, the established connections and friendships with Chinese partners proved to be sustainable and helpful for both sides. At the beginning of the outbreak in Wuhan, the BWA campaigned successfully among its member companies and the German public to provide assistance to the people affected in China (https://bit.ly/4dK6nBi). It organized aid deliveries of medical supplies and was involved as co-organizer of a benefit concert in the Berlin Memorial Church.
A few months later, when China had the pandemic largely under control while it was now raging in Europe and protective clothing and masks were in short supply in Germany, the association launched another appeal, this time among its member companies and partners in China, to donate medical supplies to Germany. The response was overwhelming and ensured that the association was able to provide many hospitals, retirement homes and schools in Germany with urgently needed protective masks. Mutual support in difficult times as a result of many years of friendly commitment - one of the most positive experiences from that time at the BWA, which in those days was more like a logistics company for aid deliveries than a trade association.
Despite this hope-giving, mutual aid at the beginning of 2020, the association was unable to maintain a physical presence on the ground as the pandemic continued to spread and China went into lockdown. This was followed by three difficult years in which the BWA's existing projects in the country could only be supported via video conferencing.
Challenges and hostility: The new polarization
This period was accompanied by an increasing deterioration in relations between China and parts of the new German government elected to office in 2021, which intensified once again under the impression of growing geopolitical tensions between China and the USA and after the start of the war in Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
Media coverage of China in Germany, which in previous years had also been largely characterized by ignorance, clichés and prejudices, turned clearly negative, economic relations between China and Germany were politicized, polarized and scandalized, and the BWA also faced hostility in this context, being attacked by journalists as an instrument of sinister Chinese influence or a front organization of the Chinese government (https://bit.ly/477TyhA).
Amidst all the commotion, however, the association continued to position itself as a voice of reason in the China debate, building on its many years of extensive experience and the expertise of its member companies and experts. Remaining true to its integrative approach, it advocated de-escalation and understanding, the correction of misconceptions through own experience, and also took a clear stance on inadequacies in German China policy, for example in the German government's new China strategy (https://bit.ly/3OcJcFc).
Opening and reconnecting: 21 cities in 6 weeks and a new office
In an attempt to forge a first rapprochement after the reopening of China at the beginning of 2023 BWA Board Chairman Michael Schumann decided to take an unusual step.
During a six-week trip to China in mid-July 2023, he traveled to 21 cities with which the BWA had worked in the past and held numerous discussions with representatives of companies and institutions, think tanks, professors and students, artists, journalists and ordinary people in order to form his own picture of China after the pandemic.
Before flying back to Berlin, he was the first studio guest from Germany after the pandemic to speak on a talk show hosted by well-known Chinese TV presenter Liu Xin about his experiences and understanding between China and Germany (https://bit.ly/4e4m71K).
It was not least the impressions gained during this trip that prompted the BWA to reopen its representative office in China. A new, representative location in the Shanghai district of Hongkou was quickly found, but the official registration as a foreign non-governmental organization still took some time.
At the end of February 2024, the BWA received its official accreditation as an overseas NGO from the relevant authorities in Shanghai. Jun Zuo, chief representative and legal representative of the BWA in China, accepted the accreditation certificate at a handover ceremony at the Administrative Office of Overseas NGOs of the city of Shanghai.
Outlook: Economic diplomacy as a response to crises
With its new presence in Shanghai, which will be officially opened on September 20, the BWA will continue to promote Sino-German economic relations, mutual learning and mutual understanding in the long term. It will continue to advocate constructive interaction with China that does not ignore problems, but prioritizes what unites over what divides, and it will continue to focus on the integrative potential that can be found in economic exchange.
In a world full of crises and conflicts, we need more cooperation instead of confrontation, more commitment instead of less, more encounters and understanding at the level of people who can relate to each other, even if they live in different political systems. In this way, economic diplomacy, as the BWA understands it, makes a contribution to securing peace and shaping an inclusive and cooperative world of tomorrow (https://bit.ly/479di4i).
