Taicang City in east China's Jiangsu Province has become a strategic hub for German enterprise growth, drawing hundreds of companies with its deep industrial base, skilled workforce, and responsive local governance.
Dubbed the "hometown of German companies," Taicang is now home to more than 560 German firms, including over 60 hidden champions, highly successful yet lesser-known small and medium-sized enterprises that lead global markets in specialized niches.
On the sidelines of an economic and trade cooperation exchange conference held in Taicang on Tuesday, senior figures from the hidden champion sector shared their reasons for investing and expanding in China, citing manufacturing agility, government responsiveness, and a rich talent pool.
"I believe that Chinese manufacturing companies are the best in the world, offering the lowest costs, fastest response times, and the most comprehensive product range. Whenever we have any problems, the government is always active to help us and responds quickly," said Bi Guanghong, CEO of Knorr-Bremse China.
"China's investment atmosphere is favorable compared to other places in the world, especially Taicang, where a large number of German companies are concentrated and they have accumulated very rich experience in the past," said Ma Kangkai, chairman of Jiangsu Deding Energy Technology Co.
"In China, we can do this development in four weeks, or six weeks, eight weeks, much more faster, and then we can directly produce here. This is very important, the employees are very international and well-educated, and the rent is also quite good in Taicang. So I think Taicang is just the best mix," said Francis Kremer, general manager of Wessel-Werk GmbH China.
"The Chinese consumer is the most innovative consumer developed, so Chinese consumers are more ready to accept innovations, to buy innovations. So this is also speeding up the process. There are several aspects, one is availability of talent, of qualified and well-educated workers to have qualified suppliers, so the supplier infrastructure is also very, very important for the decision on a location," said Hermann Simon, honorary chairman of Verband Deutscher Hidden Champions (VDHC).
For future plans, hidden champion leaders have made decades-long plans with special focuses on emerging fields.
"We want to invest in AI and digitalization. We have just signed framework agreements with several digital companies. We will not only focus on digital R&D in the Chinese market, but also want to feed back to the European market," said Bi.
"Our research and development team in China is exceptional and may expand to around 200 people in the future. We hope to continue investing and growing in China. This isn't a two-year or three-year plan, it's a five-year, 10-year, or even 20-year plan," said Ma.
Taicang grows into strategic base for German hidden champions in China
Chinese President Xi Jinping's New Year message delivered on the New Year Eve has drawn positive responses from scholars and former officials from several countries, who say that the series of global initiatives proposed by Xi have provided fresh momentum for multilateralism and shared development at a time of growing uncertainty.
While the reactions touched on the broader vision outlined in Xi's New Year message, they also focused on the initiatives Xi has put forward over recent years, particularly the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative, the Global Civilization Initiative and the newly proposed Global Governance Initiative.
Highlighting the significant importance of these initiatives, they have emphasized the need for equality, inclusiveness and a fairer international order.
"We need a more just international order and a truly multilateral system. China stands almost alone today as a global force actively advancing genuine multilateralism. Therefore, these initiatives are most welcome," said Michael Schumann, chairman of the German Federal Association for Economic Development and Foreign Trade.
Former Lebanese Prime Minister Hassan Diab has placed the emphasis on dialogue and trust-building between civilizations.
"It is essential now more than ever to promote communication and understanding between China and the world to enhance cultural exchanges and build mutual trust. As President Xi has repeatedly emphasized, China supports principles of unity, inclusiveness and peacefulness. These values should guide our collective efforts to build bridges rather than walls," he said.
From a governance perspective, Russian scholar Ekaterina Zaklyazminskaya, head of the Center for World Politics and Strategic Analysis at the Institute of China and Modern Asia under the Russian Academy of Sciences, has viewed the Global Governance Initiative as a structured response to global challenges.
"The recently proposed Global Governance Initiative presents a comprehensive framework of ideas. It prioritizes establishing a more just international order, champions multilateralism, and upholds the principle of 'people first.' Through its concrete practices, financial assistance, and tangible support for multilateral bodies like the U.N., China has demonstrated that its commitments are substantive. China is taking tangible steps toward a fairer and more reasonable global governance system," she said.
Scholars from the Global South also have seen historical echoes in the initiatives.
"Some of the developed and developing countries have highly welcomed the Global Development Initiative, because this initiative emphasizes the need for partnerships -- partnerships that commit resources to end global poverty and pursue common and shared development. The Global Governance Initiative, in my view, echoes again the call that was made by Asian [and] African countries at the Bandung Conference in 1955 for equality, for mutual respect, for respect of territorial integrity, [and] for respect of sovereignty," said Bongani Maimele, director of international relations at South Africa's National School of Government.
"These initiatives are revolutionary in nature. They are reshaping the political philosophy of global governance. Today's world is far more complex than it was 80 years ago, and interdependence among nations has deepened. Therefore, we need new philosophical perspectives to examine our world and new models of engagement to foster a new type of international relations," said Sheradil Baktygulov, director of Kyrgyzstan's Institute of World Policy.
Int'l scholars praise Xi's initiatives, call for stronger multilateralism
