By 1899 Siemens had built China’s first electric tram in Beijing. This was followed by power plants, a steel plant and the first high voltage power line in the country. In 1904 the first permanent representative office in China was founded in Shanghai, and further locations were added in subsequent years. In the interwar period, Siemens received major orders for power stations in Shanghai, Harbin, Nanjing and Guangzhou, and the Siemens China Co. became Siemens’ largest regional company outside Europe. World War Two, the following Cold War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution largely prevented direct communication and business had to be conducted via third parties such as the Danish firm Jebsen & Co.  

But the times then changed – on both sides: China opened up to the West again and the Federal Republic of Germany resumed diplomatic relationships with the People’s Republic in 1972. Only two years later Siemens was able to post a first major order for steam turbines, and almost 40,000 Chinese technology specialists visited the Siemens exhibition “Electrical engineering and electronics” held in Shanghai in 1978 to see the company’s entire spectrum of technical competence. Even after the opening of the company’s own representative office in 1982, the possibilities for expansion given the size of the market and the duration of the relationships still looked very promising. 

The turning point was marked by the “Memorandum of Comprehensive Cooperation between Siemens and China’s mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics industries” of October 29, 1985. It enabled relationships between Siemens and the People’s Republic of China to acquire an entirely new quality. The cornerstone was intensive technology and knowledge transfer which went far beyond the sale of products by also providing for the training of the Chinese partners locally and in Germany and for the establishment of joint ventures. In addition, a joint coordination team was installed to monitor the progress of the cooperation and decide on subsequent steps.  

The cooperation was a resounding success: only ten years later Siemens had 30 joint ventures in China. Milestones of technical development were achieved in China such as the first commercial magnetic levitation train (2003) and the most powerful high-voltage direct current transmission line (2007). Local production, for example with factories for computer tomographs and wind turbines (2009), is being expanded, new research centers and partnerships are being created. And now finally China is being confronted with precisely those megatrends on which Siemens focuses: climate protection, an aging population, urbanization and globalization.

2011 – Dr. Franz Hebestreit