The head of German auto giant BMW on Tuesday highlighted the company's deep integration with the Chinese market and reaffirmed its commitment to continue cooperation with its Chinese partners on developing a number of cutting-edge innovations.
Oliver Zipse, chairman of the board of management and CEO of BMW AG, was speaking ahead of German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's visit to China.
Merz arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, his first since taking office last May, with the chancellor being accompanied by top executives from 30 German firms, including BMW.
Zipse said he was privileged to be a part this delegation and said the visit gives a clear message of the need for the two countries to strengthen cooperation.
"It's an honor and a privilege to join Chancellor Merz on his first visit to China. This visit sends a strong signal for dialogue, collaboration, and mutual trust, because these are crucial ingredients, not only for the future of the Sino-German partnership, but also for tackling today's complex global challenges together," Zipse said.
BMW has established its largest research and development location outside Germany in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang, and has invested heavily in the plant in recent years, with a focus on expanding new energy vehicle (NEV) production. The company also operates additional innovation bases in Beijing, Shanghai, and Nanjing, focusing on vehicle development, digital services, software systems, and autonomous driving.
Expounding on BMW's cooperation with China, Zipse listed a series of collaborations and innovations the auto giant has been working on together with different Chinese partners.
"China is the largest automotive market in the world, and one of the most important technology and innovation powerhouses for our industry. Our Shenyang production base [is] our largest research and development location outside of Germany. As for example, battery cells come from CATL. [Our] autonomous driving stack is jointly developed with Momenta. And the large language model for the BMW intelligent personal assistant is the result of our longstanding partnership with Alibaba. These features are a perfect example of cross-border collaboration, joint pioneering spirit and mutual openness," he said.
BMW CEO reaffirms auto giant's commitment to China
