Managing Director at accenture Research, Head of the Working Group 6 on digital business models under the umbrella of the Plattform Industrie 4.0, and member of the Expert Group Digital Business Models:

“Digital business models are not limited by national borders. Value creation networks are a central architectural principle and, in this regard, both China and Germany can learn a lot from each other, especially on important topics such as monetization, scalability and organisational transformation. I am very happy that innovative German and Chinese enterprises are engaging in this cooperation.”

Director of the Industry 4.0 Learning Factory Lab at the Tongji University, Member of the Electronic Science and Technology Committee of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), Member of the Expert Committee of China Intelligent Manufacturing System Solution Providers Alliance as well as member of the Expert Group Future of Work:

“China's new technology research and development is fast, and its education concept is very advanced. But at the practical level, China's education still has a lot of room for growth. In engineering education in Germany, many projects of the students come directly from enterprises. During the study, students need to set up objects in practice. In some colleges and universities in China, the projects come from the university only, and some exercises can only be made using computers. At this point, we need to strengthen the industry-university research cooperation.”

General Manager of thyssenkrupp Transrapid GmbH, Chairman of the Board of the International Data Spaces Association as well as member of the Expert Group Industrial Internet:

“China and Germany are facing similar global challenges, like climate change and mitigating the risks of global warming, and the need for new mobility concepts in densely populated areas. The world is also becoming more digital. This digital transformation is both a challenge and opportunity for companies and countries. Closer cooperation between German and European companies and Chinese companies offers the opportunity to create a win-win situation for both countries in addressing these challenges.”

Chief Platform Officer at Foxconn Industrial Internet (Fii), Vice Chairman of the China Alliance of Industrial Internet (AII) Platform Group as well as member of the Expert Group Industrial Internet:

“It is my pleasure to join the Sino-German Company Working Group. We hope to provide new business models, creative thinking and value-added services to Industrial Internet and Industrie 4.0, and, hopefully, to both countries. Moreover, from the viewpoint of companies, we will try our best to facilitate the cooperation in the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry. […] The Sino-German Company Working Group is a very good working model. Working together leads to a win-win situation through the creation of synergies.”

Research professor at the Institute of Science and Development, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS-ISD), professor at the School of Policy and Management, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS) and Director of the Research Center of Network Innovation and Development at UCAS and member of the Expert Group Digital Business Models:

“We can unite in the joint effort and work together in fields where both sides have common challenges and jointly face these challenges as well as greet the future of Intelligent Manufacturing and digitalization together. There are many successful Sino-German scientific research, education and industrial cooperation projects in the field of Intelligent Manufacturing / Industrie 4.0. […] I believe that there will be more extensive exploration and communication in scientific research and innovation in the two countries in the next few years. Concerning the aspect of the industry […], there is still much potential for cooperation between the two sides in the different application scenarios of AI in the future.”

Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at GIANCE Technologies, Scientific Director at the German Research Centre for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) in Berlin, and member of the Expert Group Artificial Intelligence:

“Overall, I see the role of the expert group as twofold. First, to explore all the possible applications of AI in manufacturing. Second, to find positive examples of Sino-German cooperation. If we can elevate these examples, we can shorten the search for other companies interested in partnering with China and encourage more companies to follow these models. Ultimately, this cooperation would benefit the economies and industries of both China and Germany.”