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North Rhine-Westphalia presents "Automotive at its best" in China

Aachen | Olpe | Düsseldorf, 26 October, 2015 – NRW.INVEST, AGIT (the Aachen agency for innovation and transfer of technology) and the Südwestfalen Agentur economic development agency together presented North Rhine-Westphalia's automotive industry at specialist forums in China. The events took place on 26 October in Chongqing, 28 October in Shanghai and 30 October in Guangzhou.
North Rhine-Westphalia is one of Germany's most significant locations for the automotive industry. The combination of outstanding scientific research facilities and networks and the high concentration of automotive suppliers make North Rhine-Westphalia a region of high expertise in the field of automotive research and development, as well as industrial manufacturing.

The Technology Region Aachen and the Industrial Region Südwestfalen in particular play an important role here.

Prof. Dr. Manfred Sicking, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development of the city of Aachen, and Ansgar Hollah, Research Associate at PEM (Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components) RWTH Aachen University presented Aachen's technological expertise, in particular in the field of research and development of electromobility. Volker Ruff, Managing Director of the economic development agency Kreis Soest GmbH, together with Prof. Dr. Erwin Schwab, Vice-Rector at the University of Applied Sciences Südwestfalen, and Prof. Dr. Klaus Zeppenfeld, President of the University of Hamm-Lippstadt, presented the Industrial Region Südwestfalen, where a significant cluster of the German automotive supply industry is located.

"Cooperation between business and science is an important success factor for Südwestfalen and also for the district of Soest," explained Volker Ruff, Managing Director of the economic development agency Kreis Soest GmbH. "The project " Automotive Expertise Region Südwestfalen" will create two center of excellence which will provide a platform for firms and research institutes to jointly develop technologies for the automobile of tomorrow." The Automotive Center Südwestfalen (asc) in Attendorn will focus on lightweight body construction, whilst the center of excellence in Lippstadt will concentrate on the development of electronic components for electric vehicles.

The Technology Region Aachen is one of Europe's leading centers of automobile and rail technology. Together with the firms, the numerous cutting-edge research facilities such as the Institute for Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components at RWTH Aachen University form a flourishing business and development cluster. "Leading national and international car manufacturers place great emphasis on this tradition of continual, science-based development of innovative products. To this end, they invest in their own research and development centers. Aachen is at the forefront, particularly for research and development in the automotive industry," said Frank Leisten, Head of Location Promotion and Investment Advice at AGIT.

"North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's largest federal state, presents itself with two of its most productive regions, provides an insight into its expertise and highlights opportunities for Chinese firms in Europe," says Petra Wassner, CEO of NRW.INVEST. "North Rhine-Westphalia is the ideal location for research and development, production and distribution in Europe. Over 850 Chinese firms have already realized this, and are operating successfully in Germany and Europe from North Rhine-Westphalia."