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Europe's leading logistics location NRW in China to promote investment and cooperation

  • Rhein-Kreis Neuss and NRW.INVEST in a dialog with the Chinese logistics industry
  • Expert forums in Shanghai and Qingdao on the occasion of the trade fair "transport logistic China 2016"
  • RheinCargo intensifies contacts with Chinese logistics companies

Shanghai | Neuss, 15 June 2016 – A delegation of the state-owned economic development agency NRW.INVEST and the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district is traveling to China in June to present the logistics location NRW as part of the location marketing campaign "Germany at its best: Nordrhein-Westfalen". On the occasion of "transport logistic China 2016", the international trade fair for logistics, telematics and transport in Shanghai, expert forums will be held in Qingdao and Shanghai together with the logistics service provider RheinCargo. Under the title "Logistics in Times of Digitization – Opportunities for Chinese Enterprises in North Rhine-Westphalia" NRW informs the Chinese business community about the location of NRW and about investment opportunities in the digital transformation of the logistics sector. In addition, the delegation will meet representatives from the Qingdao Port and the Nanjing Port Group in order to discuss opportunities for cooperation. 

"With the ever-increasing volume of goods, efficient logistics solutions, for example the intelligent linking of the different transport systems, are an important key. With close-knit transport networks, numerous research facilities and optimal location conditions, NRW offers international investors the best prerequisites for the digital logistics of the future," says Petra Wassner, CEO of NRW.INVEST. Thanks to the central location and the dense transport infrastructure, NRW is regarded as the most important logistics hub in Europe.

The state is at the intersection of important national and international transport axes. These include not only the close links to the Belgian and Dutch seaports, but also a direct rail connection to China, the "New Silk Road". All these aspects make NRW the first choice for Chinese companies planning to build or expand a location in Europe. In the meantime, there are more than 900 Chinese companies based in the Rhine and Ruhr regions, including internationally renowned companies such as Donghua, Genertec, Hisense, Huawei, Lenovo, Lingyun, Minmetals, Sany, Shanggong, WISCO, XCMG and ZTE.

Many of them steer their European business from the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district, as demonstrated by the region's very high export rate of over 55 percent. "Around 150 Chinese companies are registered in the eight cities and municipalities of the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. This makes our district, besides Düsseldorf and Cologne, the top location for Chinese investments. Companies value our economic strength, our location, the excellent infrastructure and a vibrant Chinese community," says Dirk Brügge, Rhein-Kreis Neuss District Director.

Thomas Hommers, Managing Director of THBC Consulting and member of the board of the Neuss German-Chinese Society, who is accompanying this trip: "Digitization will further optimize international transport chains in logistics. German-Chinese cooperative venture are important drivers here."

"Many companies have already discovered the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district as a European logistics hub. In the Chinese metropolitan areas of Qingdao, Shanghai and Nanjing, we would like to convince more companies of our location advantages," adds Robert Abts, Head of the Rhein-Kreis Neuss Economic Development Agency. A foundation for this has already been laid: Several meetings have already taken place between RheinCargo and the port of Nanjing, the largest inland port on the Yangtze River, in order to explore future cooperation between the two ports. RheinCargo has around 720 hectares of land at seven port locations between Neuss-Düsseldorf and Cologne and transports around 45 million tons of cargo in national and international freight traffic with 48 cranes and 100 locomotives each year. These contacts will be further intensified as part of the delegation trip.


About the logistics location North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's leading logistics location. More than 27,800 logistics companies with 314,000 employees benefit from the favorable location conditions in the most populous federal state, generating sales of around 70 billion euros each year. Almost all key players in the industry are based in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Deutsche Post DHL, FedEx, Fiege, Imperial, Kühne+Nagel, Raben, Rhenus, Schenker, UPS and Yusen Logistics. Numerous global players operate their distribution centers in the Rhine and Ruhr regions, such as 3M, Amazon, Esprit, HSE, IKEA, QVC, TK Maxx and many more.