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China spends 10 billion dollars in Germany
7 hours ago
BERLIN (AFP) — Chinese firms inked deals worth "more than 10 billion dollars" with German companies Wednesday, China's Trade Minister Chen Deming said.
Chen is heading a delegation of more than 200 Chinese companies on a tour of Germany, Spain, Britain and Switzerland to buy European goods and technology, in a trip hailed by Beijing as proof of its non-protectionist stance.
Thirty-six contracts were signed in total, benefiting in particular Germany's troubled automobile firms Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen. The agreements signed in Berlin include a memorandum of understanding between Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Import Company to deliver vehicles; an MoU between Volkswagen AG and China FAW Group Corp. to deliver vehicle parts; an MoU between Volkswagen's unit Audi AG and China FAW Group Crop. to deliver vehicle parts and vehicles; a contract between BMW AG and BMW China Automotive Ltd. to deliver vehicles; a contract between Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz China Ltd. to deliver vehicles.
Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said it had also won two network deals worth a total of around 880 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) in China.
Chen said Germany was "the most important economic partner" in Europe, which was why the delegation began its four-country tour in Berlin.
Both he and German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stressed the need to avoid protectionism as a response to the global economic crisis.
Ahead of the trip, Gao Hucheng, a vice commerce minister, said: "The Chinese government's organisation of the trade and investment mission to Europe comes as the world economy is facing recession due to the international financial crisis."
"It shows China's determination to open up its market and push for the revival of the world economy by strengthening cooperation with other countries in the world," Gao said in a statement.
Juergen Heraeus, spokesman on Chinese affairs for the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, told AFP earlier that the delegation planned to spend around 11 billion euros in total during its European shopping spree.
The European Union is China's largest trading partner, its most important source for technology imports and its largest export destination, while China is the EU's second-largest trading partner.
The huge Chinese investment will offer a boost to Germany's ailing economy, especially as the sectors gaining the most -- automobiles and machine tools -- have been among the hardest hit by the global slump.
Data published earlier Wednesday showed Germany's economy -- Europe's largest -- shrank 2.1 percent in the last three months of last year, with the slide driven mainly by a 7.3-percent slump in exports.
7 hours ago
BERLIN (AFP) — Chinese firms inked deals worth "more than 10 billion dollars" with German companies Wednesday, China's Trade Minister Chen Deming said.
Chen is heading a delegation of more than 200 Chinese companies on a tour of Germany, Spain, Britain and Switzerland to buy European goods and technology, in a trip hailed by Beijing as proof of its non-protectionist stance.
Thirty-six contracts were signed in total, benefiting in particular Germany's troubled automobile firms Audi, BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen. The agreements signed in Berlin include a memorandum of understanding between Volkswagen AG and Volkswagen Import Company to deliver vehicles; an MoU between Volkswagen AG and China FAW Group Corp. to deliver vehicle parts; an MoU between Volkswagen's unit Audi AG and China FAW Group Crop. to deliver vehicle parts and vehicles; a contract between BMW AG and BMW China Automotive Ltd. to deliver vehicles; a contract between Daimler AG and Mercedes-Benz China Ltd. to deliver vehicles.
Finnish-German telecom equipment maker Nokia Siemens Networks said it had also won two network deals worth a total of around 880 million euros (1.1 billion dollars) in China.
Chen said Germany was "the most important economic partner" in Europe, which was why the delegation began its four-country tour in Berlin.
Both he and German Economy Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg stressed the need to avoid protectionism as a response to the global economic crisis.
Ahead of the trip, Gao Hucheng, a vice commerce minister, said: "The Chinese government's organisation of the trade and investment mission to Europe comes as the world economy is facing recession due to the international financial crisis."
"It shows China's determination to open up its market and push for the revival of the world economy by strengthening cooperation with other countries in the world," Gao said in a statement.
Juergen Heraeus, spokesman on Chinese affairs for the Asia-Pacific Committee of German Business, told AFP earlier that the delegation planned to spend around 11 billion euros in total during its European shopping spree.
The European Union is China's largest trading partner, its most important source for technology imports and its largest export destination, while China is the EU's second-largest trading partner.
The huge Chinese investment will offer a boost to Germany's ailing economy, especially as the sectors gaining the most -- automobiles and machine tools -- have been among the hardest hit by the global slump.
Data published earlier Wednesday showed Germany's economy -- Europe's largest -- shrank 2.1 percent in the last three months of last year, with the slide driven mainly by a 7.3-percent slump in exports.
