"Now we have 20 pages of experts, consultants, law firms and even tea shops that can provide services to Chinese companies," added Uwe Kerkmann, director of the Office of Economic Development of Duesseldorf.
"A decade ago, it would have been difficult to find law firms that had Chinese-speaking employees. That is not the case now.
"China has been the most dynamic growth driver for Duesseldorf and on average we see 20 to 30 new Chinese companies here every year. Over one-third of our FDI comes from China."
In 2004, the city government started a "China comes to Duesseldorf" strategy, to position the city as a perfect destination for Chinese companies looking to open in the region.
The city even hired its first native Chinese employee in its local government.
Around the city, almost 150 million people live within a radius of about 500 kilometers, the equivalent to one-third of all consumers and 45 percent of the purchasing power in the EU.
"Prior investments have helped create an important Chinese community and infrastructure, which makes it even more attractive for other Chinese companies to follow suit," she added, "with institutions like the Duesseldorf China Center, the Chinese Enterprises Association and Chinese banks like Bank of China and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China making settling in for newcomers a lot easier."
Walter Schuhen, marketing director of Duesseldorf China Center GmbH, said 15 Chinese companies use Duesseldorf as their headquarters, and around 2,500 Chinese people live in the city, with that number increasing quickly every year.
Kerkmann, too, said that in the past, Chinese companies had the image of mass-produced "cheap products", but today its image is good products for good prices, and more of its customers are seeing quality branding and strengthening company image. "We believe that Chinese companies will get better and better in the future," he said.
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