Jinhua has maintained economic exchange and industrial cooperation with Germany over the years. In 2022, Jinhua exported 1.81 billion EUR worth of products to Germany, which mainly consisted of new energy products (photovoltaic products and electric vehicles), clothing, medical equipment, kitchen supplies, and hardware tools.

On March 1, 2023, a government economic and trade delegation led by Zhu Chonglie, the secretary of the Jinhua Municipal Party Committee, held a Sino-German economic and trade technical exchange meeting at Kempinski Hotel Frankfurt Gravenbruch in Frankfurt.

About 110 entrepreneurs from China and Germany and representatives of major chambers of commerce attended the meeting, including Sun Congbin, consul general of the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt, Zhu Weige, commercial counsellor of the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt, Dr. J.C. Manfred Florian Welker, representative of the German Federation for Economic Promotion and Foreign Trade in Frankfurt, Betram Roth, head of the Investment Promotion Association of the Rhine-Maine Region, Germany, Zhu Chonglie, secretary of the CPC Jinhua Municipal Committee, Zhang Xusheng, secretary of the Yongkang Municipal Party Committee of the Communist Party of China, Li Qiang, head of the People’s Government of Wuyi County, Zheng Gongmin, head of the Jinhua Development and Reform Commission, Chen Yan, head of the Jinhua Foreign Affairs Office, and Mao Wenjin, a business representative of the German Office of the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Commerce. The exchange meeting was hosted by Xu Gensheng who is the head of the Jinhua Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

Sun Congbin, the Consul General of the Chinese Consulate General in Frankfurt, said that China and Germany have maintained friendly exchanges since the establishment of diplomatic relations 50 years ago. Economic and trade cooperation has served as the ballast and propeller of Sino-German relations. In 2022, the bilateral trade volume between China and Germany reached 298.1 bn EUR, a year on year increase of 21%. China has become Germany’s largest trading partner in the world for seven consecutive years, which shows the strong resilience, potential, and vitality of the economic cooperation between the two countries.

Dr. Welker, the representative of the German Federation for Economic Promotion and Foreign Trade in Frankfurt, said that the federation maintained close cooperation with China during the pandemic. In the middle of May this year, a high-level economic and trade delegation will be organized to visit Jinhua. It is expected to increase cooperation through activities like exhibitions.

Zhu Chonglie, the secretary of the Jinhua Municipal Committee of the CPC, thanked all guests for coming to the exchange meeting, including entrepreneurial representatives, overseas Chinese business groups in Germany, and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce. Jinhua is building itself into an international hub city, adhering to marketization, internationalization, and legalization, and taking a development path that has Jinhua’s characteristics.

In 2022, Jinhua had a total GDP of 80 bn USD and a booming market advantage. There are 18 industrial clusters with a business volume exceeding 10 bn RMB in Jinhua, including automobile and parts manufacturing, hardware, textile, and medicine. Besides, Jinhua has more than 30 national industrial bases and has established foreign trade relations with 233 countries. As an important railway transportation hub in central Zhejiang, Jinhua also has unique geographical advantages, and the Yiwu-Xinjiang-Europe Block trains have made 2269 trips to date.

At the exchange meeting, Chinese and German entrepreneurs signed a series of agreements including strategic cooperation agreements, trade cooperation agreements, and procurement agreements. (By Cao Qing, translated by Wei Han, edited by Daniel Haws)