Under the direction of Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner, a business delegation from Lower Austria visited China from 22 to 28 April 2019. 33 entrepreneurs participated in the journey with stops in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hong Kong. Lower Austrian Governor Mikl-Leitner sees great economic potential here: "China, as the second-largest economy in the world, ranks 15th among the most important export markets of Lower Austria. In China, our export economy still has enormous growth potential. Our big goal is that domestic goods exports to China will grow from the current 400 million euros to 500 million euros by 2023." The trip was organized by the state of Lower Austria together with the Lower Austrian internationalization agency ecoplus International, the Lower Austrian Chamber of Commerce and the Federation of Austrian Industry Lower Austria. Responsible for the organization of company and trade fair visits on site as well as the Economic Forum Zhejiang was ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA. "We are particularly pleased that with Shanghai and Hangzhou as China's economic powerhouse and center for research and technology development, we have been able to offer our participants such a varied and exciting program," said Dr. Michael Scherz, ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Innovation.
The delegation's program included a visit at Chinese company Deepblue Technology, which specializes in artificial intelligence, and the NIO House in the Shanghai Tower, the impressive showroom of electric car manufacturer NIO.
Visit at Deepblue...
...and NIO
On the second day, the company Pollmann International invited the delegation to the ceremonial opening of Phase Three of their injection molding plant in Kunshan near Shanghai. Afterwards they visited Auto Shanghai, the leading trade fair of the automotive industry in Asia, where this year Austria was successfully represented for the first time with a group stand.
Ribbon-cutting ceremony at Pollmann
Austrian group stand at Auto Shanghai 2019
Visit at the booth of Chinese car brand Hongqi (FAW)
In the evening, the participants had the opportunity to exchange views with the Austrian Business Community in Shanghai at the network reception at the Hyatt on the Bund.
Governor Johanna Mikl-Leitner speaks at the Networking Reception
Lower Austria's partner province Zhejiang was the focus of the trip the following day. With a stop at Alibaba, headquartered in Hangzhou, the delegation had the opportunity to experience China's e-commerce giant up close. An opportunity not to be missed by Austrian Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz, who also traveled to Shanghai and Hangzhou and met with Alibaba's company founder Jack Ma.
Federal Chancellor Sebastian Kurz at the Zhejiang Business Forum
In the afternoon, the Zhejiang Economic Forum took place organized jointly by ADVANTAGE AUSTRIA Shanghai office and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). This event provided the Lower Austrian entrepreneurs with an ideal platform to exchange information with companies from Zhejiang Province and make new business contacts. However, existing contacts have also been maintained and joint projects pushed forward: The Lower Austrian company M-U-T Maschinen-Umwelttechnik-Transportanlagen used the journey, for example, to open a joint research center with Hangzhou Dianzi University.
Contract signing in Hangzhou
Federal Chancellor Kurz also paid a visit to the Economic Forum in order to officially close it in the late afternoon. Afterwards, the Lower Austrian delegation traveled on to Hong Kong.