German companies use CIIE to expand Chinese market share

SHANGHAI, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- During the fifth China International Import Expo (CIIE), Karcher, a German company, showcased its versatile cleaning robot KIRA B10, which can meet various floor cleaning needs from sweeping to vacuuming and mopping. KIRA B10 does so with the help of its cameras and radar sensor.

Karcher has participated in the expo for five consecutive years. The import expo, inaugurated in 2018, aims at expanding China's opening-up and turning the country's vast market into enormous opportunities for the world.

This active presence has given its performance in the Chinese market a shot of adrenalin -- Karcher's business in China achieved about 40 percent growth year on year and its sales in China exceeded 3 billion yuan (about 414 million U.S. dollars) in 2020. The following year, it gained a 35 percent increase in sales and recorded over 4 billion yuan in sales.

Five years of participation at the expo has also witnessed Karcher's former exhibits becoming sought-after goods.

Karcher's City Sweeper MC 80, once on display during the third CIIE, has now forayed into more than ten Chinese cities after its introduction by local sanitation departments. Its third-generation AI intelligent cleaning robot, released during the fourth CIIE, is now used in cleaning, sterilization, and disinfection operations at the Shanghai Hongqiao High-speed Railway Station. Nearly 500 robotic gantry car washing machines developed by the company have been introduced to 21 cities in south China's Guangdong Province, providing round-the-clock automatic car washing services at local gas stations.

Karcher is now more than an exhibitor. The company has become an investor.

In 2019, China held the second CIIE. In the same year, Karcher pooled 380 million yuan into building its Karcher China headquarters in Changshu, east China's Jiangsu Province, and established the Asia Pacific Logistics Center in China.

In 2020, Karcher signed to cooperate with Gaoda Technology and Suxitong Science &Technology Industrial Park to build an unmanned car washing research and development (R&D) and production base. Earlier this year, it invested another 100 million yuan to set up a global high-tech R&D center in Suzhou Industrial Park, which has become an in-depth cooperation bridge between the company and universities, scientific research institutes and multiple innovation platforms.

Another five-time German exhibitor, Bayer, a leading company in life sciences, brought its three business divisions namely Pharmaceuticals (and Radiology), Consumer Health, and Crop Science to this year's event.

Bayer this year considerably increased the size of its booth in the expo's medical equipment and healthcare products exhibition area compared to 2021. It showcased a wider variety of innovations, activities, and interactive experiences that highlight its competitive advantages in healthcare and agriculture.

The company's Pharmaceuticals Division presented Verquvo -- a drug working differently to existing treatments -- which is indicated for the treatment of patients with chronic heart failure. Bayer also introduced Kerendia, the first non-steroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) antagonist, approved to treat adults with chronic kidney disease associated with type 2 diabetes.

"Since Bayer's first presence at the event five years ago, we've been working closely with our Chinese partners to introduce our latest research achievements through this national platform," said Werner Baumann, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer AG, adding that the company had already signed up for the next CIIE.

"As China's most significant import exhibition, the CIIE very much assisted international companies like Bayer to share in and grow together with China's economic development," he added.