The Fifth CIIE has entered the final sprint stage. In the past five years, the "circle of friends" of the Expo has become larger and larger, and with the Expo as the link, more and more foreign-funded enterprises are optimistic about China and invest in China. In the past five years, a variety of "Expo stories" have also occurred in the "circle of friends" of the Expo, which are records of enterprises and even individuals growing together with the Expo, and are also the testimony of the "spillover effect" of the Expo.
On June 1, we launched the "My Blog Story" campaign and published a number of outstanding works around the theme of "Grand Strategy" in July. In August, we will continue to share the common memory of the "circle of friends" of the Expo around the theme of "big market", and tell the exciting process of the Expo transforming the Chinese market into a global dividend.
Let us take the "Expo Story" as the guide, and together wish the fifth CIIE a smooth hold, and look forward to the wonderful official stage!
Chen Wei, General Manager of SCHOTT Group China
Great oaks from little acorns grow.. Looking back on the past four CIIE trips, I have left footprints in many places - the booth of the partner, the signing site, the factory building where the project was landed, the office of the government where the investment was made... All of these places record my blog story, but if I really want to talk about it, I have to start with three "twenty thousand steps".
The first "20,000 steps" is the number of steps I walk every day during each CIIE, which is the best witness to every cooperation and harvest achieved by the German SCHOTT Group at the Expo.
In 2018, SCHOTT established a joint venture with Zhejiang Crystal Optoelectronics. On the recommendation of the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, we participated in the first CIIE. Frankly speaking, at that time, the company just came to the exhibition with the mentality of trying it out, so the booth area was only 36 square meters. Surprisingly, however, the number of steps I take every day at the show can easily exceed 20,000 steps. Why is that? Afterwards, I summed up the reason: at the scene of the Expo, the epitome of the entire Chinese big market was vividly and vividly placed in front of me. Therefore, I excitedly talked with exhibitors at the exhibition site, participated in various activities such as centralized signing meetings, and signed agreements and established cooperative relations with many enterprises. After the closing of the first CIIE, I immediately informed each team member: "For SCHOTT, CIIE will be the most important national exhibition in every year to come." "Since then, we have not been left behind in the First Ciie.
With the scale of the Expo getting bigger and bigger, our booth area has also expanded to 180 square meters. There are also more and more upstream and downstream enterprises that we need to visit and reach cooperation. In the field of medicine, our glass tube division has signed an agreement with Twin Peaks Gresheim, and the pharmaceutical system division has also signed contracts with Qilu Pharmaceutical, Haohai Bio and other companies to work together to contribute to human health and well-being and Chinese pharmaceutical innovation. In the field of optical communications, we have signed contracts with Everbright Technology and China Xinke for three consecutive years to help 5G communications flourish.
The second "20,000 steps" is the footprint I left in the investment area, representing the journey of ME and SCHOTT Group to step deep into China's big market and harvest development opportunities with the help of the Expo platform.
In recent years, SCHOTT has increased investment, set up new factories and introduced high-end production lines in China, which has really helped the transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry and promoted the change of Chinese manufacturing from "quantity" to "quality". Among them, the investment in the pharmaceutical glass tube factory still makes me feel fresh in my memory.
The successful holding of the first CIIE has strengthened SCHOTT's confidence in building a glass tube factory in China. In August 2019, the foundation stone of the factory was officially laid. However, only half a year later, the outbreak of the new crown epidemic, whether the glass tube factory that is still under construction can witness the smooth production of the "Chinese speed" is a "sword" hanging over the head of everyone in SCHOTT at that time.
During the most difficult period of the epidemic, we ran on the front line every day and overcame many difficulties with the full support of the local government. In the end, the plant was completed and put into operation as planned. As soon as we started, we made the borosilicate glass bottles that were urgently needed in the vaccine production process as a priority category. SCHOTT has also been able to become one of the most important primary packaging suppliers of COVID-19 vaccines in China and even in the world.
At the 4th CIIE, we announced two additional major investments in the pharmaceutical sector. One is the Pharmaceutical Systems Division's project to invest another 380 million yuan in Jinyun, and the other is an additional 70 million euros to invest in the construction of the second phase of the pharmaceutical glass tube factory. Today, two investments are being implemented. Not only that, with the help of the platform of the Expo, SCHOTT's mobile phone cover glass products have also been rapidly rolled out in the Chinese market. Since the first launch of SCHOTT ®UTG ultra-thin flexible glass at the Expo, we have carried out the application development of foldable mobile phones with many well-known mobile phone brands in China. At present, many flagship models have applied this flexible glass and met with consumers.
Today, China has become THE LARGEST CONSUMER MARKET FOR SCHOTT, but China's charm lies not only in the size of the market, but also in that as the country with the most complete industrial chain, China has become one of the important sources of global scientific and technological innovation. In order to further enhance the innovation ability of enterprises, SCHOTT announced at the second CIIE that it will invest in the establishment of an Asia-Pacific R&D center in Suzhou to provide cutting-edge technical support for ultra-thin glass, 5G communications, AR/VR, energy storage and other industries. Today, the R&D center is operational.
The third "20,000 steps" represents my vision for the future development of the company and the future development prospects of the SCHOTT Group, and is a step forward for me to take around the world at some point in the future.
I look forward to one day being able to bring the development achievements and advanced technologies achieved by SCHOTT through the CIIE platform abroad and feed back the global market." After the conclusion of the fourth CIIE, when I reported to the headquarters, I received an exciting news: in order to achieve the Group's goal of carbon neutrality by 2030, SCHOTT's technical experts have begun experiments, with the goal of using hydrogen energy to produce glass on a large scale. I am deeply aware that the understanding of the expansion of the opening up of the Expo and the promotion of the double cycle can not only stay at the level of trade, while providing high-quality products for the global market, we must also continuously strengthen international industrial exchanges through the platform of the Expo and enhance the well-being of the entire human society.
The glass industry is an industry that is both traditional and modern. Humans have been firing glass in primitive kilns since thousands of years BC, a process that requires extremely high temperatures and a lot of energy consumption. However, from the invention and improvement of the formulation of special glass, to the continuous improvement of production technology, to make the production process more environmentally friendly, companies like SCHOTT that are led by technology research and development are gradually promoting the modernization of the special glass industry in the history of nearly 140 years. SCHOTT is currently developing a new environmentally friendly, low-carbon glass melting process. I look forward to the full implementation of this technology at SCHOTT's plant in China in the near future and to become a leader, pioneer and promoter of this technology.
In the four years he has traveled with Jinbo, SCHOTT has achieved unparalleled growth. By participating in the Expo, SCHOTT's confidence in the Chinese market has become stronger, and continuous investment in the Chinese market has become a strategic choice for SCHOTT in the future.
As a facilitator of Sino-German friendship, Dr. Frank Heinricht, CEO of SCHOTT Group, has always attached great importance to SCHOTT's development in China. Recently, at the invitation of the Chinese Ambassador to Germany, Dr. He Derui exchanged views with the Ambassador on behalf of the SCHOTT Group in Berlin, Germany, and introduced SCHOTT's activities and investments in China. During the exchange, Dr. He highly praised China's resilience and organizational strength under the epidemic, and encouraged SCHOTT China's employees to face challenges with an attitude of inheriting the past and not forgetting their original intentions. We are encouraged.
As the fifth CIIE is approaching, Dr. He sent his blessings to ciie from Germany. Based on the important role of glass manufacturing in the transformation of the global low-carbon economy, SCHOTT will continue to contribute to the low-carbon development path of the special glass industry by taking the opportunity of the fifth CIIE, leading the special glass industry to meet a new era in China's large market and create a sustainable future.
Chen Wei, male, joined SCHOTT in 2011 as General Manager of SCHOTT China. Previously, Mr. Chen Wei had extensive experience in the chemical industry, energy, advanced materials, automotive electronics and traffic safety. This year will be the fifth consecutive year that SCHOTT Group has participated in the Expo. In the past 5 years, under the impetus of Mr. Chen Wei, the booth area of SCHOTT has increased year by year, and I have deeply felt the development opportunities brought by the "Bo effect" for enterprises.
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