Review: Berlin goes China Delegation – Beijing and Shanghai
Berlin goes China, from November 6-10, over a span of five days, the delegation explored two most important cities in China, experienced numerous highlights and created many unforgettable memories.
Being the inaugural stop for the first official economic delegation after COVID from Berlin was an immense honor for BBDC. At our office, Yiran Li, the Chief Representative of Berlin in China, extended a warm welcome to the entire delegation and introduced the BBDC, our mission and our passion. After a briefing by Sandra Schulze and Anna Wiese from Berlin Partner regarding the day's agenda, the official program has been kicked off in the meeting room of the German Centre. GM Jochen Tenhagen introduced the German Centre in Beijing and set the tone for a week abundant with exploration and collaboration. Jens Hildebrandt, Delegate of AHK North China, delivered an insightful economic briefing for our members.
After the morning sessions, the delegation explored Langyuan Station, previously the Beijing Textile Warehouse, which has now been redeveloped into a Cultural and Creative Park with a thriving international cultural community. That area is home to numerous companies within the film and creative sector, and during our tour, we had the opportunity to visit an innovative Chinese fashion company called Rosemoo. The founder of Rosemoo warmly welcomed us and gave us a very special tour inside of their office building, which is a conversion of a 60-year-old warehouse.
The afternoon included a visit to the Beijing High-level Automated Driving Demonstration Area, where the delegation visited the innovation and operation center of autonomous driving technology and took a test drive with three Robobus from WeRide that navigated seamlessly through the area. Later in the day, the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Baidu Apollo Park and to experience a test drive with the Baidu Robotaxi.
As the evening approached, the first day of the delegation reached its pinnacle with the "Berlin meets China - Innovation Dialogue" event, which took place in the Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany. Prior to the event, the delegation received a detailed political briefing from Dr. Thomas Weithöner, the Head of the Economic Department of the Embassy. At the event, after the official greetings from Dr. Weithöner and Mrs. Eda Özbay from the Senate Department, Berlin Partner initiated an interesting panel discussion. Yiran Li, Dr. Alexandra Mikityuk, Alex Zhao, and Han Xiao shared their insights on innovation in China and Berlin during a vibrant dialogue led by Sandra Schulze. Over 60 specially invited guests, who are all esteemed partners and friends of Berlin in China, attended the reception.
On the next morning, a guided bus tour led by Jelte Ansgar Wingender from Founders Lair provided a comprehensive peek into Beijing's startup and innovation ecosystem. The delegation visited a battery swapping station from Aulton for taxis at the Dongcheng Tiantan Park Electric Vehicle Exchange Station in central Beijing, where they witnessed the seamless integration of technology and urban mobility. This facility is not a test or pilot project, but rather operates on a daily basis.
After the visit at Aulton, the delegation headed to the Beijing South Train Station. There, some of participants were about to take their very first trip with the Chinese express railway to go to Shanghai.
Directly after arriving in Shanghai, we participated at the German Startup Night, organized by German Accelerator. Thanks to Jessica Miao, Yao Tang, Martin Gothe and Till Ammelburg for providing our startups with the opportunity to connect with the startup ecosystem in Shanghai. Super interesting pitches and it was an amazing crowd. The venue of WeWork, formerly an opium factor was awesome.
On the 8th, our Berlin Startups presented themselves to a large audience in the German Pavilion at the China International Import Expo. We got a very good impression of one of China’s biggest trade fairs and met some interesting German companies through a guided tour, such as Covestro AG and Carl Cloos Schweisstechnik GmbH.
During lunch time, we did not only have very delicious food but also very contentful input from Corinne Abele, who gave us an update about the latest economic development in China. Thanks Corinne, for giving up your lunch break to join us and share your knowledge with us.
Company Visit at Cloudpick:
It was impressive to experience the grab-and-go store concept on-site and to get a deeper understanding of their innovative approach. Thanks for the great presentation, Mark Perry!
A Berlin night on the Huangpu River
Our boat event in Shanghai has already become a tradition for our Berlin delegation trips in China. Once again it was a memorable night with old friends, new business partners and of course the impressive view of the skyline of Shanghai. Thanks to our special guest Damian Maib for sharing his experiences of setting up a successful e-commerce business in Shanghai with us.
Sino German Innovation Conference at The Drivery Shanghai
The Shanghai base of The Drivery organized a great company pitch event where our startups presented their tech solutions in front of VCs, corporates and startups from China. Thanks to Scofield Liang for the great organization!
Berlin at the AHK Greater China Xceleration Days (X-Days) 2023:
Berlin had its own side event on the innovation stage of the X-Days: “Spotlight on Berlin - Meet leading startups from Europe's tech powerhouse”, where the delegates had the opportunity to introduce themselves in two different panel sessions.
Company Visit at AutoFlight:
The last visit during our delegation trip in Shanghai was another highlight. We had the chance to visit AutoFlight, one of the pioneers in the field of air taxi manufacturing for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and Urban Air Mobility (UAM). It has been impressive to learn how they develop and produce safe, quiet and sustainable air taxis. The lunch with their CEO, Mr. Yu Tian, and their investor, Lukasz Gadowski, was an unforgettable experience. Thanks to Ann Cheng organizing the visit for us!
Five days went by fast. We are happy that we could contribute something to the delegation´s visit. After a delegation is before a delegation, we are already looking forward to our next visit from Berlin