GASME News

2024 China-Europe Manufacturing Cooperation Forum and Matchmaking Conference Held in Hefei

On the afternoon of September 20th, the 2024 China-Europe Manufacturing Cooperation Forum and Matchmaking Conference with the theme of “China-Europe Cooperation for an Intelligent Future of Manufacturing” was held in Hefei. This conference is hosted by GASME, and is one of the important parallel forums of the 2024 World Manufacturing Convention.

The purpose of this event is to explore how to strengthen China Europe manufacturing cooperation under the new situation, rely on new quality productive forces, deepen China’s new industrialization to achieve high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry.

More than 300 Chinese and foreign guests attended the forum including Carlos Magariños, Former UNIDO Director-General, Chairman of GASME, Tang Liangzhi, Chairman of the Anhui Provincial Committee of CPPCC, He Weiwen, Expert of the State Council Information Office, Senior Vice Chairman of GASME, Zhang Yuefeng, Secretary General of the Provincial Committee of CPPCC, Chen Jianzhong, President of CCPIT Zhejiang Provincial Committee and CCOIC Zhejiang Chamber of Commerce, Frank Cao, Executive Chairman and Secretary-General of GASME, Yao Kai, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Information Technology of Anhui Province, Zhou Furu, former Chairman of the Hefei Municipal Committee of CPPCC, Zhu Yu, Vice President of China Association of SMEs, Tian Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary General of the Silk Road International Chamber of Commerce and Chief Representative of Shanghai Office, Deng Ruizhou, President of the Association of the German SMEs (BVMW) in China, Fang Jing, Vice President of SAP China, Li Ping, Vice President of Becton, Dickinson and Company Greater China, Liu Lijia, Global Partner Manager of LafargeHolcim, Marco Crivellaro, General Manager of BRUGOLA China, Alexander Günter, Vice General Manager of Schmul Group China, Zhang Feng, Director of Sika Group East China, Jessica Luk, Senior Vice Chairman of GASME Sustainable Development Committee, President of Helper International Consulting Group, Dong Kunlei, President of Resolink CR Digital.

The event includes many contents including addresses by leaders, keynote speeches, dialogue between the host and senior executives of Fortune 500 multinational companies, dialogue on the development of enterprise overseas development, cooperation and matchmaking between Chinese and European enterprises, and welcome dinner, etc.

Chairman Tang Liangzhi pointed out in his speech that the manufacturing industry is an important area for China to expand its opening up to the outside world and participate in global industrial division of labor. Currently, China is implementing the comprehensive lifting of foreign investment access restrictions in the manufacturing industry. Anhui has always attached great importance to promoting the opening up of the manufacturing industry, and is willing to engage in practical cooperation with global manufacturing partners, including Europe, on a larger scale, in a wider range of fields, and at a deeper level. Entrepreneurs and investors in advanced manufacturing fields from Europe and other regions are welcomed to invest and develop in Anhui for mutual benefits. Europe is an important economic and trade partner and source of foreign investment for Anhui. Many high-quality local enterprises in Anhui, such as Chery, JAC, Heli Forklift, Tongling Nonferrous, etc., are actively exploring the market in Europe. A group of well-known European enterprises, such as Volkswagen, Continental, and Unilever, have invested and developed in Anhui. From January to July this year, the total import and export volume between Anhui and Europe reached 103.1 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6.88%. The World Manufacturing Convention has become a manufacturing event with significant international influence. As one of the organizers of the convention, GASME has long been committed to building a leading international cooperation platform for SMEs worldwide, making positive contributions to promoting economic and trade cooperation between China, Anhui, and other parts of the world.

Chairman Magariños stated in his speech that as two major economies in the world, China and Europe hold pivotal positions in the manufacturing industry of the global economic landscape. The total bilateral trade volume between China and Europe will reach 5.5 trillion yuan in 2023. However, China’s manufacturing industry also faces some challenges in its development process. For example, there is still a certain degree of dependence on imports in core technologies and key components, and the innovation capability and brand influence of high-end manufacturing need to be further improved. At present, it is the best time for Chinese enterprises to achieve globalization, because China needs the world, and the world needs China even more. Europe, on the other hand, is a highly attractive stage for globalization. In terms of technological innovation cooperation, China has made significant progress in emerging technologies such as 5G, artificial intelligence, and big data, while Europe has a deep foundation in basic research and high-end manufacturing technology. Through cooperation, both sides can achieve complementary technological advantages and jointly promote the innovative development of the manufacturing industry. In terms of complementary industrial cooperation, China’s manufacturing industry has strong production capacity and cost advantages in the mid to low end fields, while Europe’s manufacturing industry has advantages in the high-end fields. Both sides can optimize and integrate the industrial chain through cooperation. In terms of market expansion cooperation, China has a huge domestic market, while Europe also has extensive influence in the global market. Both sides can jointly explore third-party markets through cooperation. In terms of green manufacturing cooperation, Europe has advanced experience in green manufacturing technology and standards, while China has also achieved certain results in new energy, energy conservation and environmental protection. Both sides can cooperate in the field of green manufacturing to jointly promote the sustainable development of the manufacturing industry. GASME has been committed to creating a global manufacturing development platform to promote high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

Vice Chairman He Weiwen pointed out in his keynote speech that the current partial difficulties are not the entirety of China-EU economic and trade cooperation. China and Europe are each other’s most important trading partners and investment destinations, and the current geopolitical tensions and fragmentation of the geoeconomy cannot change this. Firmly consolidating and developing cooperation with European manufacturing industry is an extremely important strategic policy for China to achieve modernization, and there should be no slackness. To achieve high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry, we must firstly, strive to improve the external environment and ensure a stable and more favorable external environment; Secondly, we must expand opening up, fully absorb all outstanding achievements of human civilization, and closely cooperate with advanced technologies, industries, and capital markets around the world; Thirdly, we must steadfastly maintain the integrity of the global supply chain in world trade; Resolutely uphold multilateral rules and promote globalization. Only by working together can China and Europe make their manufacturing industry bigger and stronger.

President Chen Jianzhong pointed out in his speech that in the past 50 years, China and Europe have adhered to the concept of openness and win-win cooperation, continuously deepened mutually beneficial cooperation, and achieved positive results. As the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Europe continues to deepen, it also faces some challenges that cannot be ignored. With the rise of anti-globalization and trade protectionism, extreme politicians and public opinion guidance intensifying, there are signs of abuse of security concept and pan-politicization of economic issues between China and Europe. The two sides have some differences in areas such as the automotive industry, industrial subsidies, tariff policies, non-tariff barriers, and the development of artificial intelligence. Nevertheless, win-win cooperation between China and Europe is the trend. China and Europe have enormous potential for cooperation in the fields of green industry, digital economy, intelligent manufacturing, quantum computing, biomedicine, aerospace and other new quality productive force areas.

Zhu Yu, Vice President of China Association of SMEs, and Deng Ruizhou, President of BVMW in China, also delivered speeches at the meeting. In addition, Wu Qunxue, President of Anhui Haixuan Culture Group, shared his experience in digital management and released the achievements of Empowerment of Digital Transformation of Manufacturing Talent Cultivation by Anhui Haixuan Culture Group.

During the Dialogue of Senior Executives of MNCs, Tian Xiaohong, Deputy Secretary General of the Silk Road International Chamber of Commerce and Chief Representative of Shanghai Office, as the host, had a conversation with Fang Jing, Vice President of SAP China, Li Ping, Vice President of Becton, Dickinson and Company Greater China, Liu Lijia, Global Partner Manager of LafargeHolcim, Marco Crivellaro, General Manager of BRUGOLA China and Tang Xiaolin, General Manager of Resolink CR Digital, sharing the future industrial layout of each company under the current new situation, as well as the main problems and difficulties encountered by the company in investing and operating in China, and putting forward improvement suggestions to the Chinese government.

During the Dialogue on Enterprise Overseas Development, Jessica Luk, Senior Vice Chairman of GASME Sustainable Development Committee and President of HICG, as the host, conducted in-depth communication, analysis, and discussion on the problems encountered by Chinese enterprises of their going global with He Weiwen, Expert of the State Council Information Office, Senior Vice Chairman of GASME, Anthony Chen, Founding Partner of HICG CPA PLLC, Accountant of Multiple Regions including the US, Canada and Europe, Lawyer of the State of New York, and Wang Wenxing, Expert on International Tax Law.

At the Award Ceremony of the forum, Chairman Magariños presented the “Smart Digital Service Platform for Cross-border Commerce Innovation Award” to the Winlink Business System of HICG, the “Technology Innovation Award for Digital Intelligent Management” to the Haixuan Intelligent Cloud Screen of Anhui Haixuan Educational Technology Co., Ltd, the “Designated Vehicle for China-Europe Manufacturing Cooperation Forum 2024” certificate to JAC RF8, and the “Best Product Innovation Award for SMEs Services” to the “Rosolink Smart Manufacturing” Industrial Intelligent All-in-one Machine of Rosolink Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. In addition, GASME and the China Association for Promoting UN Procurement signed a cooperation agreement at the forum.

In the concluding remarks section, Frank Cao, Executive Chairman and Secretary General of GASME, summarized the wonderful speeches and dialogues of the guests on three points: firstly, Europe is a highland and important gathering place for advanced manufacturing industry today. To achieve high-quality development of China’s manufacturing industry, it is necessary to establish long-term cooperation with European manufacturing industry. Secondly, the future of European manufacturing lies in Asia, with China being the largest market and resource in Asia. Only by cooperating with China can the European manufacturing industry become stronger. Thirdly, to build a sustainable and strong global manufacturing industry and global supply chain, neither China or Europe can be omitted and the two need to work together. He also shared the founding process of the World Manufacturing Convention and put forward useful suggestions for the international development of the World Manufacturing Convention. In recognition of the successful hosting of the World Manufacturing Convention for seven consecutive years, Chairman Cao also wrote a poem for the conference: Honored Guests from five continents shine like bright stars, The grand event in Luzhou spreads over the world at present. Great masters contribute brilliant ideas with inspiring spirit, The smart manufacturing from all nations dazzlingly compete.

This event was undertaken by Zhejiang Huihai Cultural Media Co., Ltd.