There are 36 German companies that have been registered in the Tianjin Economic & Technology Development Area. Beginning in the 1980s, a Norwegian cosmetic products company formally raised the curtain on investment in Development Area by German and other international companies. According to information from the Chinese-German Entrepreneurs Exchange & Cooperation Conference, total investment by the 36 companies has amounted to $616 million, and Germany maintains the largest number of companies in Tianjin among European countries, and has become one of the most important countries in importing products to the Development Area. Meanwhile, Tianjin’s exports to Germany have topped $498 million with a growth rate approaching 38.2%. This also means that Tianjin has become a main gathering area of German companies in northern China.
Relevant responsible persons said that the investments mainly concentrate on the industries of machinery, automobiles, and electronics & trade services with many small & medium companies, often family-owned German companies. “Most German companies, though small in scale, have special development characteristics and take the forefront in a respective field. Meanwhile, with a clear investing-program, once a decision is made, it will be advanced step by step and developed steadily according to the plan.”Moreover, most of the German companies that entered into the Development Area at early stage have enlarged their investment and increased their capital. For example, there were only 2 people at Zollern(Tianjin) Machinery Co. Ltd., of which the rental plant contained an area of more than 1,000 square meters when it was settled in the Development Area in 1997. By contrast, this German company has purchased a piece of land with an area of 50,000 square meters for expansion, and the number of their employee has reached 250 as well.
In order to attract German investment, European offices in Cologne have been open since 1997 and an excellent cooperative relationship with many German organizations has been kept. From the perspective of the staff in the investment invitation field, regarding German companies, there are many considerations before these investments, such as customer requirements, raw material supply, and so on. With the advantages of high efficiency and its proximity to Tianjin Port, Tianjin has a strong attraction for German companies. Therefore, more and more German Companies have been registered, accelerating this settlement in recent years.
