Some people find it amusing the hordes of chinese out conquering germany with their cameras. But some of these visitors have their eye on very specific Things Technology and machines made in germany and theyre not here for the perfect souvenir snapshot china has come to shop and its buying up dozens of German Companies. To my son east of our acquisitions are associated with Strategic Interests in the structure you should present china wants to shake its image as a producer of cheap goods and become a leader in Global Markets in just one year it invested more than ten billion euros in germany. Just are going to invest in germany in the us and its a win win situation. When when what about job security. Is what i thought the initial reaction is shock. Some experts fear for the domestic economy its interesting when the raiser gave planners discipline foreign products with chinese words. Zoom wants to know how dangerous it is chinas shopping spree for germany. At the i think it could be epic thank you tom is a chinese millionaire hes here in karlsruhe on business. A leading global manufacturer of packing in process technology is looking for a new investor several parties from both germany and abroad have already come to look at the production facilities today its you tongue whos offered the company one hundred fifty Million Euros and sweetened the deal by ensuring that in the future would be able to sell its machines in asia without difficulties. For the german management this all sounds promising but the companys employees are skeptical because toms company talking manufactures similar machines in china the news of potential Chinese Investment has employees concerned. And the first reaction is. China is far away and when tante there is difference they have to offer and ideas about working out as so it sort of takes that moment thats a large part of the workforce sees it pragmatically the baby shaft im talking a says ahead of time weve been settlers if its in such a tough. This time however the biggest fear is that with this sale the entire production will be relocated to china. There was another development. Wouldnt be so great for us of course if production were moved elsewhere our but i can go us maybe we can also learn something from the china office but. Investor tongue ensures them hes not out to destroy roma co he wants to team up with the manufacturer in karlsruhe to overtake competitors such as bosch. Seems china is a huge market and germany is highly developed scientifically and technologically us working together chinese and German Companies could conquer the Global Markets. So we have a three year plan we want to increase from a close market share in china into this as. Well markos the change. So right now the annual turnover there is only five to six million euro. Chinese corporation and that would mean in the future major decisions would be made by chinese investors a good reason for the german management to weigh up the situation carefully. Here. A lot at stake in the negotiations between. Well come back later to find out what kind of agreement was reached. Just one of many companies. Have shown interest in. Twenty sixteen. Companies in germany. Changed hands for company. It is one of several. Agencies. In business with china. And sometimes even. Twenty seventeen was a record year for chinese in amman day activities abroad and also in europe and germany and america and. Were seeing a solid upward trend most of the acquisitions we handled pursue Strategic Interests. In other words a chinese entrepreneur will say i have an objective i want to expand abroad or i need to upgrade my technology in order and upgrade for mentation oaky the home why are chinas sylvestre so keen on germany in particular. Looked into german products and German Technology a highly regarded. As a vietnam is in the Automobile IndustryMechanical Engineering and machinery instruction machine all have an excellent reputation in china the good news and the horse cool off. One reason germany has become a focus of interest is because of a government scheme known as made in china twenty twenty five the country wants to put its days as a producer of cheap goods behind it to become a technological leader and industrial superpower. At the hanover messa the Worlds Largest industrial trade fair its clear where chinas interests lie robotics Semiconductor Technology and automation. Up until now Chinese Companies often simply copy products no one does it better no other country churns out more reproductions or counterfeit goods. The cost to germany alone is over seven point three billion euros. A Company Based in the bavarian city of klinenberg has felt the sting because specializes in pressure temperature and Level Measurement Technology their instruments are used primarily in heating and Industrial Facilities and must operate with absolute precision. The products have been widely copied by Chinese Companies for eleven years its been. Job to track down the fakes. So whats original and whats her fake. The difference between an original and a fake is not always easy to spot for the retail customer often on fakes the printed parts are a bit blurred the casket is even worse my care at the front its been cut by hand perhaps with a pair of nail scissors and theres no way this seal is tight enough the main thing is that it wont measure the pressure properly subjected to vibration the instrument would likely fail if its time to made in germany but wasnt and it does not adhere to the quality standards of made in germany thats not fresh out. Its a tough. And his boss so why is china in particular causing so many problems. You know its a lot of fuss over the past years china has grown from a developing country into an industrialized one because and a lot of Small Companies want to gain a foothold in the market. And then they often take a very pragmatic approach to put it diplomatically its. The economic damage is significant but for this Medium Sized Company theres even more at stake is the well for today and just imagine that our instruments are often used for critical applications. Involving hard pressure for example. Handed for devices and up to specs it could result in serious damage or even personal injury and through it all of the law. And if that were do involve a device bearing the name. It doesnt matter how many ways we can prove that its not one of our products the damage to our image has been. Invented in germany and reproduced cheaply in china under the original name that shouldnt be possible in germany intellectual property is protected by the German Patent Office in munich but patents in germany arent worth much in china they have to be registered there and the requirements are different in germany inventions must truly be new in china its often enough for the goods to simply be new to the market that leaves room to patent blatant rip offs is that also part of the chinese strategy attorney usually involving combats counterfeiters on behalf of German Companies which takes a lot of time and energy. And he knows china you have to submit a lot of paperwork before a judge will even look at the need to develop a very broad strategy. So than in any other crowd because you never know which emanuel forages the deal with intellectual Property Rights in china will be responsible for your kindness or which of the Property Rights will ultimately help you win that case it varies from the plagiarism and. If a case does go to court its still not easy for wagner and his client Chinese Companies generally when blocking or has the impression the state is interested in supporting its own patents. China launched a Major Initiative a few years ago they wanted to see millions of peytons filed within a few years unfortunately the innovations arent always worthy of a paper on the standards here differ from those in europe and the Chinese Companies sometimes with Tax Advantages register a lot of patrons and then parse them through the film the average chinese courts go along with that borders on. Before us we want to know if its china first in case law. Its more like you realize theres a tendency to mistrust foreigners they always have to present everything to the chinese judge with a trip and a certified translation its a lot easier for the chinese a lot of these hurdles are purely formalities which of course have been set up by the state. Are german businesses systematically disadvantaged working to find out and make our way to china the country is germanys most important Business Partner outside europe with a trade value of about one hundred seventy billion euro more than two thousand six hundred German Companies are based in the greater Shanghai Area alone but if you hope to succeed you have to abide by chinese rules and they are strict foreigners are not allowed to invest in every branch for some you need to enter into a joint venture with chinese partners and there are limits to how much capital can flow in and out of the country. Third of german and. But moores complain about a lack of transparency bureaucratic hurdles and bias in legal interpretations. Of the German Chamber of commerce abroad is critical of the systematic bias to. Me. Trying to germany as a country that is not actually open to Foreign Investment but we are still seeing limited Market Access in china before in the case of Public Tenders for example Companies Keep telling us that there is a lack of transparency and that its not always easy to understand why theyve been shut out of the process thanks few desu my time is not quite seen cohen but it tends to be a little complicated here in china does as i list here in kenya any guns i am from. Many companies would agree but few dare to talk openly about the problems for fear of reprisals by the chinese authorities but we did find one entrepreneur who was willing to talk to us on camera back at high conventions company to develop scanners tama graphs and measuring instruments for industrial use eleven years ago she came to china and taught chinese engineers german know how then one of her employees started offering the same services outside Company Hours with the help of colleagues and equipment from their german employer. And them with the respect for they dont like to say respect for property as we do they dont have the same sense of justice so i more or less have to expect that one in one hundred employees will say well ill take that and do my own thing with it when i guess the government officials what security measures have you put in place to ensure that the no house stays within our company even in the film of life. Was very important not to reveal every facet of our technical know how to ensure that didnt happen right for a start we continue to manufacture the really sensitive parts in germany and then have them sent here to be installed in the machine and were headed to her. The russian. Vessel dismissed the employee. But thats not the only bad experience shes had she also set up a joint venture with a chinese partner who made a profit. She lost half a Million Euros business missing from. The state so i mocked as a team which operates and it works quite well. As a market that is reserved for domestic manufacturers its as much as the your opponent market so we thought it would be a good idea to enter into a joint venture with a partner from china to a venture partner of kenya that does not allow us to conquer this other market as well. One but that didnt work out so well it was very very difficult wills colliding you might say its the missile because the profit from its difficult for germans to succeed in china ventile experience is that every day applications and paperwork are required for everything nothing moves forward without a stamp and to get that pencil had to present her case to three different authorities. Position because then its worth more than my signature on. Time and again she feels the long arm of the state she wants to show us how it is we accompany her to one of the authorities a combination of a customs and labor inspector. She needs its approval to bring components from her own factory into the country. The head of the authority also wants to show German Television what they have achieved here hes proud that in just ten years more than twelve hundred companies have settled in the region of his responsibility they are all in sectors that the Chinese Government sees as crucial to the countrys future engineering some make a. Dr technology and automation. We asked the head of the agency what the Broader Vision is the. Government has created many opportunities to transform and improve chinas economy to develop it we are trying to move away from the traditional way of doing business with a new economy driven by innovation and high tech. Has many opportunities for foreign entrepreneurs to especially from germany. Thank you very much paying makes it clear and nothing in china happens by chance. Economic development. Made in china twenty twenty five envisions a quantum shift away from cheap producer to an industrial super power that will rival north america and. Has allocated nineteen billion euros for investment in the Semiconductor Industry alone because Chinese Companies cant make the advance quickly enough on their own they have to buy their way and. Theres evidence of that in western germany region where crane manufacturer. A few years ago the company was on the brink of bankruptcy first because of the banking crisis and then because many of its customers were unable to pay suddenly the jobs of sixty six employees were on the line then bush one was an investor from china appeared on the scene and took over the company the money from china kept the company afloat management is still in german hands. Or would this be a long term commitment to indeed one was committed to the long term from the very beginning what if they also want to develop the company for the Chinese Market but not as fast as some of the other as much money talk big but. One leaves the task of running the business to his german team just once a year he comes to work to check up on things but what moved him to buy this crane manufacturer in the first place in a chinese province and he made a name for himself as an automotive supplier he had nothing to do with cranes. We ask if they prevent regional strategy was behind his investment. Serves a prime market. For the European Market we want to. Receive support from the chinese and the provincial government. To develop production in china and make the brand. That would be in keeping with the governments development strategy. So this investment was made with support from the state. He doesnt reveal the exact amount but without that money would have gone bust but in another respect it cost the company dearly because the way germany builds cranes is now also known in china. Technology transfers and state subsidized shopping sprees what does this mean for germany as a Business Location expert Mary Institute for china studies spent a long time looking at chinas master plan and working out the strategy behind it. Has analyzed numerous Chinese Company takeovers including starter motor and generator subsidiary the chinese investors are actually made up of a complex network with locations in germany luxembourg and the Cayman Islands and in the end everything comes together in a special Holding Company. Does a holding. If you look at the Chinese Business register this Holding Company is owned entirely by hand. Which is a very very clear indication of the provincial plan for the Automotive Industry the. State owned enterprises have. Another example N X P Semiconductors in hamburg the buyer appeared to be a private investor but a look into numerous Shell Companies reveals a state fun directly subordinate to the council of state so not a private investor after all. Trying to give the impression that this is a private plan when the governments actually behind it that if you have nothing to hide theres no reason not to say that the government is involved. Its a controversial strategy. Thinks it has to do with germany as a Business Location. Is germany being sold off little by little as the. Deed risks that we have to observe in this travel an increasing proportion of investment is driven by state participants stopped without. Basic aim is to supplant foreign products with chinese wants. To prevent this takeovers would have to be blocked until recently the German Government could only do that when it ca