China News Service, Berlin, May 5 (Reporter Ma Xiuxiu) The latest "2021 Foreign Enterprise Investment Report in Germany" released by the German Federal Trade and Investment Agency shows that a total of 1,806 greenfield investments and brownfield investments (newly expanded projects) settled last year. Germany, with an increase of more than 7% compared to 2020, almost returned to the pre-pandemic 2019 level (1,851).
Among them, the number of Chinese investment projects in Germany is 149, still ranking third (170 in 2020).
The report noted that the United States topped the list last year with 254 investment projects, followed by Switzerland (219).
All investment projects will create more than 25,000 jobs last year, and the total transaction value is expected to be well over 7 billion euros.
"Our figures show a fundamental recovery in the number of foreign investment projects in Germany after a trough in 2020," said Robert Hermann, general manager of Germany Trade & Invest. Relatively small, but interest from international businesses to be part of Europe's largest economy has persisted during the pandemic.
According to the report, the main industries that Chinese companies invest in are machinery manufacturing and equipment (16%), automobiles (13%), consumer goods and food (13%), information and communication technology and software (11%), transportation warehousing and logistics (10%) ), Electronics & Semiconductor Industry (9%), Business & Financial Services (9%) and Health Pharma & Biotechnology (8%).
The top areas of business for Chinese companies are sales and marketing support (40%), manufacturing and R&D (22%), logistics (13%) and business services (9%).
It is said that due to the impact of the epidemic, Chinese and Japanese investment in Germany fell significantly last year.
But there were still some big projects in China last year, such as CATL's reinvestment in Thuringia and Gan & Lee's new investment in Düsseldorf.
“It needs to be emphasized that China is still one of the three most important source countries for German greenfield investment and reinvestment projects. From a European comparison, Germany is the most favored country for Chinese investors.” Thomas Bozeryan, author of the report (Thomas Bozoyan) pointed out.
German Trade and Invest is the foreign trade and inward investment agency of the German federal government.
The agency advises and supports foreign companies entering the German market and assists companies established in Germany to enter foreign markets.
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