2017-10-23

As invited by Leipzig, Chairman Zhang Yi led a delegation to visit the city in Germany on October 23, 2017. He held in-depth discussions with Burkhard Jung, Mayor of Leipzig on promoting mutually beneficial cooperation between Leipzig and Chinese cities in such fields as scientific and technological innovation, cultural exchange and economic cooperation. Mr. Wang Weidong, Economic and Commercial Minister Counselor of China in German, and Mr. Zhang Lianfeng, Chief Representative of Shandong's Economic and Trade Office in German attended the meeting as members of the delegation, and shared ideas with the Germany side on the Sino-German investment in development and innovation cooperation, and cooperation between the city of Jining of Shandong province and Leipzig on urban development. Also present were Mr. Michael Schimansky, Director of the Office for Economic Development of Leipzig Municipal Government, Ms. Gabriele Goldfuss, Director of the Office for International Cooperation of the city, Ms. Beate Schucking, President of University of Leipzig, Mr. Stephan Stubner, Dean of HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Mr. Markus Krabbes, Vice President of Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, Mr. Frank Emmrich, Executive Director of Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, Mr. Roland Arno Muller, Director and Professor of Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, Mr. Michael Korner, Executive Director of Leipzig Investment Company, Mr. Zhu Bengyin, President of Leipzig German-China Cooperation and Exchange Center. Members of the delegation also included Mr. Henrich Guntermann, Senior Consultant of ECMDC and President of European Consortium for Technology Transfer (ECTT),  Mr. Hermann Walschebauer, Senior Consultant of ECMDC and Executive Director of ECTT, Mr. Ingo Hanschmann, Contact Person of ECTT in Leipzig.

Leipzig is the second largest city in eastern Germany. It has become one of the most attractive cities in Germany, even in Europe, with the fastest population growth rate at 10% and the fastest employment growth rate of 7%. Leipzig is an important industrial city in Germany, a home of automobile manufacturing and spare part supply, biotechnology, energy and environmental protection technology, logistics, media and creative industries. Leipzig has industrial manufacturing bases of BMW, Porsche, Siemens, the European headquarters of DHL, and the European Energy Exchange. Leipzig also has the second oldest German university --- University of Leipzig.

At the meeting, leaders from departments of the Leipzig municipal government, research institutes, industrial and commercial investment sectors of Leipzig shared information of their organizations and possibilities of cooperation with China. The Chinese counterparts introduced their own organizations and expectations for cooperation. In a candid atmosphere, the parties reached a consensus that cooperation in science and technology innovation could be a breakthrough point to attract more Chinese enterprises to have bases in Leipzig for leveraging the resources of high-quality scientific research available for, for example, University of Leipzig, HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Leipzig University of Applied Sciences, the Fraunhofer Institute for Cell Therapy and Immunology, and the Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research, for creating models of cooperation in science and technical innovation between Germany and China. Mayor Burkhard Jung pointed out that he was pleased to see that the Chinese friends are working in a pragmatic manner and are oriented by effectiveness. Therefore, he sincerely expected the delegation would be make remarkable results in all aspects. Chairman Zhang Yi said that ECMDC would work closely with ECTT to coordinate the follow-up work and formulate the roadmap and timetable for building a model of cooperation in urban development in Leipzig under the "The Belt and Road" initiative.