29.07.2021

On the afternoon of July 16, nearly 120 representatives from enterprises, experts and institutions in the automotive industry of China and Germany jointly opened a unique “Cloud Dialogue”. Due to the pandemic, the German Chinese Innovation forum Automotive, co-organized by Jiangning Development Zone Administrative Committee and China Center Bavaria, was held in the form of cross-continental synchronous meetings. The event was held in Jiangning, Nanjing and Ingolstadt, Germany.

Mr Qiang Zhou, CEO of ZD Automotive, was invited to attend the cloud-based salon and discussed with the guests about the development of digital transformation and Sino-German industry cooperation.

Cloud Conference – Online and Offline Interconnection across Borders

At the forum, Mr. Sepp Mißlbeck, the former third mayor of Ingolstadt, Germany, delivered a speech first. He introduced the close cooperation and economic contacts between Ingolstadt and China. Mr . Mißbeck looked forward to the bright future of the Chinese and German automotive industry and wished the forum a success.

Zhang Yang, Deputy Executive Director of the Management Office of Jiangning Development Zone High-tech Park, gave a speech on the behalf of the venue in China and said, “We sincerely expect experts, scholars and industry elites from China and Germany to speak freely and communicate deeply, to write a new chapter in the development of the Chinese and German automotive industry together.”

Afterwards, representatives of enterprises and experts from the two venues in China and Germany held a salon on the cloud, focusing on the opportunities and visions of Chinese and German automotive cooperation in the post-epidemic era, which opened up channels for the next step of in-depth cooperation in this field.

New mode of Chinese German innovation cooperation – CEO Zhou Qiang attended the Cloud Dialogue

Qiang Zhou, CEO of ZD Automotive GmbH, was invited to participate in German Chinese Innovation Forum Automotive and discussed in the Cloud session the transformation and development of the automotive industry in the post-epidemic era. ZD will further promote the exchange and cooperation between China and Germany in the field of cutting-edge technologies and explore effective models of innovative cooperation between China and Germany at the enterprise level.

Mr. Zhou introduced ZD’s business structure with digital cockpit, autonomous driving and V2X in line with a general trend towards smart manufacturing. He pointed out that in the midst of the global coronavirus pandemic, ZD has benefited from the balanced development strategy of “two locations” in China and Germany and the long-term demand of the automotive industry in China, which has resulted in revenue growth against the trend.

Mr. Zhou highlighted the TUMInt ZD Innovation Center. Based on its knowledge of the Chinese market and experience in localization, in 2020, ZD joined forces with the Technical University of Munich (TUM) to establish a technology innovation center, which eventually led to the establishment of the first Innovation Center in Jiangning, Nanjing. He said, “The Chinese market has huge potential, and high-tech start-ups will receive more attention, better support policies and market-based investments in China, as well as the opportunity to gain recognition in China, the world’s largest market.”

Mr. Zhou gave a detailed introduction to the development direction of the Innovation Center, saying that it will initially focus on core technology areas such as autonomous driving, intelligent networking, smart city, new materials, new logistics technology, cybersecurity, simulation technology, aerospace technology in the early stage, and in the future, it will also expand to more extensive cooperation areas such as biology and medicine. He said, “The Innovation Center will build a bridge of cooperation between China and Germany and accelerate the implementation of scientific research results in China.”

Creating a platform for exchange and cooperation to promote innovation results

As an important vehicle production base and one of the green and intelligent automobile industry clusters in Jiangsu Province, Jiangning Development Zone continues to make efforts in the new track of automobile industry such as intelligent network connection and new energy vehicles and accelerates the optimization and transformation in the direction of digitalization, electrification and intelligence.

Germany is an important partner of the Jiangning Development Zone. In recent years, the Jiangning Development Zone has carried out the strategic deployment of the construction of the famous innovation city. It has established a solid partnership with the Thuringian Ministry of Economics, Science and Digital Society, Consulate General of China in Munich and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Development and Energy.

On this basis, the signing and landing of projects such as the TUMInt ZD Innovation Center have injected a new impetus for Jiangning Development Zone to build special industrial landmarks and accelerate the international development.

The forum brought together the backbone of the Chinese and German automotive industry to explore the business exchanges and cooperation between China and Germany in the automotive intelligent manufacturing industry from the perspective of industry practitioners, and to explore new opportunities for cooperation and development; The forum overcame the impact of the epidemic, and the government leaders, entrepreneurs and experts from China and Germany conducted a wonderful collision of ideas through overseas connection, which set up a “cloud” bridge for science and technology exchanges between China and Germany. The forum overcame the impact of the epidemic, Chinese and German government leaders, entrepreneurs and experts through the overseas connection to have a brilliant collision of ideas and set up a “cloud” bridge for the science and technology exchange between China and Germany.

ZD is not only a witness for The Chinese German communication and cooperation, but also an active participant and promoter. With the establishment of the TUMInt ZD Innovation Center as a milestone, ZD will take a new leap forward from the new starting point, elevate the exchange between the two countries to a higher level and expand its scope and promote cooperation in innovative fields such as smart manufacturing between China and Germany.