German Business in China – Greater Shanghai Innovation Survey 2018/19
About this report
Background
For over 20 years, the German Chamber of Commerce in China has been committed to
advancing Sino-German business relations. To provide German companies with leading
market intelligence and industry insights, the underlying question of our daily operations
is: What is the near future going to be like for our member companies here in China? We
at the German Chamber of Commerce in China try to see the bigger picture: as part of the
larger AHK network, we are in 140 locations in 92 countries, with about 47,000 member
companies and want to anticipate market developments and, most importantly, present
future-oriented and well-informed business strategies.
In 2017, we launched the Greater Shanghai Innovation Survey, in cooperation with Tongji
University and goetzpartners Management Consultants with the intention to provide an indepth,
empirically founded understanding of the innovation behaviors of German
companies. This year, thanks to the participation of more than 100 manufacturing
companies, we can again present you with the characteristics and challenges of innovation
of German companies in this fast-moving economy.
Research objectives
Specifically, this survey aims to find answers to the following questions:
� How important is innovation for German manufacturing companies in China?
� What types of innovation are they engaging in?
� What are the key drivers and challenges of doing innovation?
� What are the characteristics of “German innovation made in China”, e.g. with respect
to speed, local responsiveness, and innovation collaboration?
� How are German companies dealing with restrictions imposed by the regulatory
environment?
� How do German companies in China engage in digitalization and Industrie 4.0?
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