Conference about recent developments in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone for German enterprises
China
On 4 December 2014, the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) hosted an Expert Hearing on “China (Shanghai) Free Trade Zone: Impact of Current Import Inspection and Certification Reforms on German Companies“ in Waigaoqiao, Shanghai. More than 60 participants attended the event, which was implemented by the Sino-German Quality Infrastructure Project and AHK Greater China.
Officials of BMWi and AQSIQ, the National Certification and Accreditation Administration (CNCA), local Inspection and Quarantine Bureaus (CIQ) and Chinese and German experts comprehensively discussed and exchanged views with representatives of the German private sector on how the FTZ’s current and future reform developments in entry-exit inspection and quarantine supervision as well as certification are affecting their market access, production conditions and business opportunities in China.
Subsequent to Mr. Joachim Geiß’ (Deputy Division Head for the Product and Plant Safety, Technical Harmonization and Market Surveillance Division at BMWi) and Mr. Li Wei’s (Deputy Division Head for the Supervision on Inspection Division at AQSIQ) warm welcoming remarks in the morning, representatives of Shanghai CIQ and Shanghai Maritime University as well as of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and AHK Greater China gave expert inputs about most current reform developments and Shanghai FTZ’s overall impact on German business operations in China.
Subsequent to Mr. Joachim Geiß’ (Deputy Division Head for the Product and Plant Safety, Technical Harmonization and Market Surveillance Division at BMWi) and Mr. Li Wei’s (Deputy Division Head for the Supervision on Inspection Division at AQSIQ) warm welcoming remarks in the morning, representatives of Shanghai CIQ and Shanghai Maritime University as well as of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany and AHK Greater China gave expert inputs about most current reform developments and Shanghai FTZ’s overall impact on German business operations in China.
In the afternoon, the event proceeded in two parallel panel sessions. In panel session I, officials from CNCA and Shanghai FTZ CIQ discussed with the German Automotive Association (VDA) and German automotive sector representatives recent third party inspection and certification reforms and their respective impact on the automotive industry. Panel session II focussed on the role of German small and medium enterprises within the FTZ reform process and how their businesses have been affected by current inspection and certification reform developments.
The German and Chinese partners and privates sector participants agreed that the expert hearing provided an excellent dialogue platform for updates and in-depth exchange which should be regularly offered to interested companies to learn and discuss about latest reform developments and their respective impact on German business operations in China.
