Enlarge: The participants of the conference "Digitising with China" at the Hanover Fair

Organised by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), the event featured various presentations, panel discussions and use cases, including keynotes from Dr Oliver Blank, Director for European and China Affairs at ZVEI, Dr Jens Gayko, Managing Director of the Standardisation Council Industrie 4.0 as well as Prof Dr Martin Ruskowski, Head of Innovative Factory Systems of the German Research Center for Artifical Intelligence. The China Centre for Information Industry Development (CCID) provided an overview of the Sino-German cooperation in the field of Intelligent Manufacturing, including an insider perspective on the latest developments of “Made in China 2025” by Mr WANG Peng, Vice President of CCID. Experts from HUAWEI and Yunji Technology presented on successful cases of AI application in China (the Chinese Initiative "Made in China 2025" is the counterpart of the German Plattform Industrie 4.0).

Among the most notable highlights of “Digitising with China” were two thought-provoking panel discussions: During the session “Artificial Intelligence - Driver for Intelligent Manufacturing”, experts from academia and the private sector discussed the status quo of AI research and its application in Germany and China as well as their expectations for future AI developments in the manufacturing sector. Panellists agreed that deeper Sino-German cooperation would be beneficial to further explore the potentials of AI for Intelligent Manufacturing processes. During the panel “Sino-German Cooperation: Short-term Benefit or Long-term Partnership?”, experts discussed whether a sustainable Sino-German partnership could be attained and how it could go beyond short-term commercial benefits. Panellists from both countries expressed confidence that a strategic long-term partnership is both attainable and desirable. The discussions centred on market openness and the facilitation for fair competition, which were deemed essential for realising a reciprocal long-term partnership between Germany and China.

About the Sino-German Industrie 4.0 Project

Based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi) and the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) signed in 2015, the Sino-German Industrie 4.0 cooperation aims to improve the business environment and facilitate bilateral cooperation between German and Chinese companies. The China Centre for Information Industry Development supports MIIT in this cooperation. On the German side, BMWi has commissioned the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit to support the implementation of the MoU.