Expatrio takes part in the Sino-German Annual Meeting for Business Cooperation and Technology Exchange

Expatrio’s Director of Public Affairs was one of the speakers at the event, which happened in Dayun, China.

“Creation of cooperative innovation dynamics: through the Silk Road-Initiative of the Dayun Forum“ was the main theme of the second Sino-German business conference organized by the People’s Government of Dayun town and the Jiashan Province, in China, taking place on September 26, 2019. Urs Unkauf, Expatrio’s Director of Public Affairs, not only attended the event, but was also a speaker on a panel about the cooperation perspectives through the Chinese Belt-and-Road-Initiative (BRI).

At the debate, Unkauf connected both his academic background as a historian and expert in the history of diplomacy with his experience as Expatrio's director. He discussed how the ancient Silk Road is responsible for connecting economies, as well as people and cultures, and how this is linked to Expatrio’s work of helping students to obtain a German study visa. Today, Chinese students represent the largest community of foreign students in Germany. Therefore, it is an essential topic regarding the future of digital relocation businesses to implement close ties to the countries where prospective international students in Germany come from.

Other highlights of the conference that enriched the conversation of collaboration between Germany and China were Michael Paris, former deputy mayor of the City of Frankfurt, Robert Herzner, China’s representative of the German Trade and Invest (GTAI), and Thomas Meurers, general manager of the China office of the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA). The Conference hall at the international banquet center, Yunlan Bai, in Dayun, China

The event was a great opportunity not only to strengthen and establish new network connections, but also to get to know new concepts. Dayun, the city which hosted the event, presents a functional order very different from what may be seen in Germany, with the industrial area in the West, separated from the housing and tourism areas.

Conference participants were able to visit the Sino-German eco-industrial park and the "Afición Chocolate City", as examples of Sino-German cooperation projects in several economic sectors from food to smart building. Currently, more than 300 businesses are located in the park: 18 of them are Chinese national companies from the high technology sector, 72 are foreign companies which represent more than $250mi of investments, and 14 are companies funded exclusively either by German capital or Sino-German joint ventures.

Furthermore, the travel to China allowed Urs Unkauf to visit Expatrio’s business partner at the country, Hon. Ma Zhao He, whose office is in Shanghai, and visit the celebrations of the 70th anniversary of the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

Expatrio wishes to continue consolidating the high level network in China and expresses its gratitude to all organizers and supporters which have contributed to make the Second Sino-German Business Meeting in Dayun an unforgettable success!