Recently, German company MAN Energy Solutions, together with China Shipbuilding Services, provided a retrofit solution for two LPG carriers for Tianjin Southwest Marine, converting the ships' engines to run on LPG with dual-fuel engines. The vessels are scheduled to be docked in January 2024. Dual-fuel conversions have been favoured by many ship owners in recent years as an important way to maintain the value of their vessels' assets in the coming years. This retrofitting service for Chinese shipowners is also a breakthrough for MAN Energy Solutions in this business area. Per Rud, senior vice president of the group's after-sales service division, said that the cooperation between the business and China Shipbuilding Services had been very successful and that the relationship with the Chinese partner would continue to be strengthened in the future.

The story of MAN Energy is a microcosm of the steady development of German, and indeed European, companies in China. A few days ago, at a symposium on European enterprises held by the Ministry of Commerce, representatives of the nine European enterprises present expressed their optimism about the Chinese market and will continue to increase their investments in the future to promote the healthy and stable development of China-Europe economic and trade cooperation.

Chinese and European enterprises have a wide range of investment and cooperation areas. According to the "Annual Report on Sino-German Corporate Investment Cooperation 2022-2023" previously released by the China International Investment Promotion Centre (Germany) (CIIPA), in the coming period, China and Germany will jointly address global challenges such as climate change, energy transition and stable supply chains, and there is broad cooperation between enterprises of the two countries on new topics such as renewable energy and green low-carbon There are broad prospects for cooperation between companies from both countries on new topics such as renewable energy and green and low carbon. German Energy Director Andrias Kullmann has also said that there is great potential for cooperation between Germany and China in the fields of energy efficiency, integrated systems and future energy supply. Especially in the areas of energy efficiency improvement and new industrial production, the need for cooperation is strong at all levels and both sides should work together to promote it. "I hope that German companies with good ideas will find markets and good partners in China." Kuhlmann said.

In fact, in the field of new energy, the three major German car companies - Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen - have all laid out electric vehicle production lines in China. For German companies with leading positions in the field of energy technology, China is a market to get familiar with and full of prospects. The Harting Technology Group is a supplier of industrial connectivity technology for data, signals and power. The development of clean electricity cannot be achieved without electronic connectivity technology, and the company is working to promote key research and development in this area. Group CEO Philip Harting introduced the company, which has been developing in China for 30 years, and will further strengthen its local development in the areas of production, sales/marketing, R&D innovation and service across the board in the future. "The next step will be to develop new solutions in conjunction with our Chinese market partners to meet the needs of China as a technology leader."

In 2022, China removed the restriction on foreign shareholding in the manufacturing of passenger cars in the automotive sector and the restriction that the same foreign investor may establish two and less than two joint ventures in the country to produce similar vehicle products, and the negative list of manufacturing entries in the Pilot Free Trade Zone was cleared, resulting in a broader and stronger opening up of the manufacturing sector, which has increased the attractiveness of China's manufacturing sector to all types of resource factors.In 2022, the country's The actual amount of foreign investment utilised in the manufacturing sector was RMB 323.7 billion, an increase of 46.1% year-on-year, including an increase of 263.8% in the automotive sector.

Franz Decke, President and CEO of BMW Brilliance, said that the total investment in the Shenyang Rida plant is RMB 15 billion, the largest single investment in the history of the BMW Group in China. With the official opening of the Rida plant in 2022, the plant is breaking new ground with groundbreaking digital applications, strengthening the BMW Group's leadership in global automotive manufacturing. In the coming years, the Rida plant will also continue to expand its solar system and promote sustainable vehicle production.

Karl Deppen, member of the Daimler Trucks Board of Directors and Head of Daimler Trucks Asia, said outright that Mercedes-Benz trucks are now "Made in China". "China is the world's largest market for heavy-duty trucks and has huge growth potential." He said that in 2022, with the first locally produced Mercedes-Benz trucks unveiled at the new production site in Huairou, Beijing, Daimler Trucks opens a new chapter in China with two localised product lines that will meet the needs of Chinese customers, while the company aims to exceed customer expectations in China's heavy truck market.

It is not only the manufacturing sector that is becoming more "magnetic", but also the consumer sector in China is full of opportunities, and Spanish companies are among the European companies that are optimistic about this. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Spain, and it has become a consensus between the two countries to further strengthen friendly and mutually beneficial cooperation in the fields of trade and commerce, which undoubtedly brings opportunities for many Spanish companies. One such company is the Puig Group, which is becoming more and more visible to Chinese consumers. 2021 saw the Chinese market become the fastest growing market in the world for the Puig Group, with a 212% increase in sales. Marc Puig, the group's chairman and CEO, has said that the travel retail business of Hainan Duty Free is showing "incredible" sales and that China is expected to become one of Puig's top three markets in the near future. At the same time, Puig is looking forward to the launch of localised products in China with its investment in Chinese national fragrance brands.

With China prioritising the recovery and expansion of consumption this year, the market is set to expand further and there will undoubtedly be more incentive for foreign investment in China. At the same time, a series of special policies introduced last year to promote investment in manufacturing and encourage the development of foreign-funded R&D centres will be given full impetus this year, and a new batch of policy measures are also being planned by the relevant authorities. With the overlapping and strength of the existing and new policies, this will give more foreign companies the courage to invest and expand their business in China.