From May 28 to 30, Frank Sieren, Chief Representative for Handelsblatt based in China, columnist and writer and his delegation came to Dongguan for research with the theme “Dongguan—Leading Global Intelligent Manufacturing”. The delegation visited different towns and districts (including industrial parks) to learn the practices and highlights of Dongguan in such aspects as innovation-driven development, intelligent manufacturing, open economy, and education of technology talents. Frank Sieren said that he was impressed by Dongguan’s automatic production factories and the ecological environment characterized by lucid waters and lush mountains. He praised Dongguan for its achievements in development. During their visit, the delegation was received by Yang Xiaotang, member of the Standing Committee of Dongguan Municipal Party Committee and director of Publicity Department.
Handelsblatt of Germany was founded in 1946 and is a commercial and economic paper with the largest circulation in Germany. The purpose of the visit of Frank Sieren and the delegation to Dongguan lies in advancing in-depth cooperation between Dongguan and Germany in such fields as science and technology innovation, technology talent education, Industry 4.0 and ecological treatment through their close and extensive observation of Dongguan’s city development. During their stay in Dongguan, Frank Sieren and the delegation have visited different towns and districts (including industrial parks) such as Songshan Lake, Dalang, Dalingshan, Machong, Hengli, Qingxi, Nancheng District and Guancheng District. They have also visited and interviewed enterprises such as Everwin Precision, Topstar Technology, Wonderland Nurserygoods, Hongda Electric Products, Letaron Electronic, Quotient Kinematics Machine and Sinoinnovo Technology, research institutes and innovation platforms such as China Spallation Neutron Source, Xbot Park, and Dongguan Institute of Opto-Electronics Peking University, education institute like Dongguan Technician College, and ecological treatment prime examples such as Shigu Sewage Disposal Plant and Huayang Lake.
Frank Sieren expressed that during the three-day research and interview, Dongguan’s automatic production factories and the beautiful ecological environment with lucid waters and lush mountains have made a big impression on him. The achievements Dongguan has made in its development and its livability are evident. He believed that once published, his report would allow German readers to enrich and deepen their understanding of the development in Dongguan. He hoped that Dongguan and Germany will have more practical exchanges and establish better connections, so that the bilateral cooperation can find deeper roots here and thrive.
Extended Reading
Keyword 1: Industrial Cooperation
Achieve Win-win Results through Two-way Exchanges
Dongguan and Germany enjoys a history of sound economic and trade cooperation. By March this year, Dongguan has 40 Germany-funded enterprises with contracted foreign capital of USD 220 million and actualized foreign capital of USD 160 million in total. In 2017, the trade volume between Dongguan and Germany was RMB 28.39 billion, a year-on-year increase of 18.3%, accounting for 2.3% of the city’s total import and export volume. Products exported from Dongguan to Germany mainly include telephones, automatic data processing devices and parts, video game players and parts, on-off protection circuit devices and parts, textile machines and parts, automatic measuring, inspecting and analyzing instruments and apparatus, and integrated circuits. From January to March this year, the total trade volume between Dongguan and Germany registered RMB 6.92 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22.6%, representing 2.6% of the city’s total import and export volume.
Concerning science and technology exchanges, last year, Dongguan Science and Technology Bureau invited a delegation from Wuppertal, Germany, to attend the 2017 China (Dongguan) International Science & Technology Cooperation Week. Fraunhofer LBF (Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability of Fraunhofer Society) made a Germany Pavilion. On last December 9, the 2017 China-German Symposium on Intelligent Manufacturing was held in Dongguan. An unveiling ceremony for Guangdong Intelligent Manufacturing Systematic Engineering Technology R&D Center and Institute for China-German Intelligent Equipment Technology was also held at the symposium.
Looking ahead, in what areas do you think Dongguan and Germany can pursue in-depth exchanges and cooperation against the backdrop of Germany’s Industry 4.0 and “Dongguan Manufacturing 2025”?
In response to this, Frank Sieren noted that he has visited the automatic production line of Everwin Precision during the research and interview. As Germany leads the world in terms of development results in automation and system integration, the two sides can have more exchanges and cooperation in this field. China excels in its development of artificial intelligence, so Dongguan has much to offer to Germany in this aspect. Therefore, the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides are mutually beneficial and win-win.
Keyword 2: Cultivation of Skilled Talents
Seeking Cooperation in More Areas
Germany boasts advanced manufacturing industry and it also possesses the secret to the education and cultivation of skilled talents. Frank Sieren has visited Dongguan Technician College and learned the international cooperation of the college.
In recent years, Dongguan Technician College has emerged as a brand of international joint education program with certain influence in the province and the country at large. The college takes the leadership in the province by adopting the vocational education patterns of some developed countries such as the dual vocational training system of Germany and modern apprenticeship Institute of the UK. It also cooperates with the Institute for Further and Continuing Education of Technische Universit?t Dresden, carrying out physical vocational education cooperation projects.
The college has also collaborated with the Confederation of Skilled Crafts (translated from Handwerkskammer, HWK) and Chambers of Commerce and Industry (translated from Industrie- und Handelskammern, IHK) from Leipzig, Germany in establishing German Vocational Qualified Credential and Training Certification Center. The center introduced the highly valued HWK and IHK vocational qualified credentials recognized in European and American countries. The college also cooperates with Germany’s second-ranking vocational education group Bildungswerk der Bayerischen Wirtschaft (bbw). They worked together to launch an international “learning-oriented workshop” targeted at four majors, namely, mechatronics, numerical control, mechanical product design, mold manufacturing in Dongguan. The program highlights the cultivation of students’ capability of solving the practical production problems an enterprise would face and aims to align its teaching with enterprise demand with precision.
Frank Sieren noted that it was impressive that Dongguan Technician College has adopted Germany’s teaching pattern and realized exchanges between German teachers and Chinese students. He thinks that Germany’s vocational education is among the best in the world as it combines theory and practice in a systematic way. More skilled talents are in need to operate the robots when manufacturing is growing more and more intelligent. Through international cooperation, Dongguan Technician College can produce more technology talents who are equipped with better capability. As a result, high-quality human resourced can be channeled into the course of transformation and upgrading.
Keyword 3: Ecological Environment
Dongguan Is a Livable City
Frank Sieren has also left his footprints in different towns and districts (including industrial park) and he also visited Huayang Lake National Wetland Park.
Frank Sieren expressed that Dongguan is a very livable city with developed manufacturing industry and increasingly pleasant ecological environment. Against the background of the construction of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area, competition may exist among cities, but such competition is positive and makes the cities grow even more stronger. Dongguan exudes greater attractiveness to investors with its current economic development, science and technology innovation and beautiful ecological environment. He added that even though few German have any knowledge about Dongguan, he believed that his following report would allow more people to witness the extraordinary achievements Dongguan has yielded.
Source: Dongguan Daily