The new ChinaGermany connection

ABy T this year’s Hannover Hesse, the world’s largest industrial fair, the star of the show, according to a report in Business World, was an elegant, ultra-sensitive robot named Iiwa, that can pour you a glass of beer or make a cup of coffee. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who, with US President Barack Obama, were guests of honor at the opening of the fair, asked if Iiwa could “squeeze lemons.”

Iiwa – intelligent industrial work assistant – was created by Kuka, a German engineering company. A month after the fair, a Chinese appliance maker, Midea, bought Kuka.

Germany is becoming the top destination for Chinese investors in Europe. Transactions with a total value of $10.8 billion were announced this year – more than all previous years combined – and 35% to 40% of Germany’s inbound investment in the first half of this year came from China.

China’s pivot to Germany reflects China’s strategic plan to be more focused on innovations and hightechnology brands in order to enable China to shift to a more advanced, industrialized society.

As it moves away from heavy industries toward a more consumer-driven economy, China intends to become one of the world’s top automated nations. China has already become the largest robotics maker in the world.

In order to win China’s support for the deal to buy Kuka, Midea promised a hands-off approach, committing itself to preserving the existing jobs and factory sites for the next seven years, and not restructuring the company during that same period.