day 5 and 6
28. - 29.03.2018
SHANGHAI
Wednesday March, 28th 2018
The fifth day not only started very early it was unfortunately also the last day in Xi’an for us. Our bus picked us up already at 6 a.m. so most of us used the ride to the airport for another short nap to be rested for our next destination, Shanghai.
After we checked in, most of us used the time before boarding for a small breakfast.
We had a really pleasant flight and arrived in Shanghai with only a slight delay. At the airport in Shanghai, we were welcomed by a travel agent who took us to the hotel by bus.
Already on the way from the airport to the hotel we realized that Shanghai is no ordinary big city. With an area of over 6,340 km² Shanghai is one of the largest cities in the world and Shanghai is also the most important industrial city of China. Since there were no more appointments today, we started to explore the city straight away after we checked into the hotel. The hotel was very centrally located and the modern rooms were very well equipped.
A part of the group went straight to the Bund to enjoy the impressive view of the skyline which we were really looking forward to. The skyline and also the city is constantly growing, at almost every corner large construction projects are in progress. The participants of the next excursion may therefore, look forward to an even more impressive cityscape.
Afterwards, we went to the Yu-Garden which is located in the northeast of the Old City of Shanghai. We spent a few relaxing hours there and strolled over the Yuyuan Tourist Mart.
Although Yu-Garden was heavily visited, it was still possible to relax a bit. The good weather certainly also contributed its part. The Yu-Garden is considered as one of the finest examples of garden art in China and can be combined very well with a visit to a Chinese tea house.
The Yuyuan Tourist Mart offers a great variety of craftsmen-ship alongside the normal shops also where some artworks are produced right in front of the tourists.
Towards the evening we went to the Bund again to see the skyline now illuminated and in its full glory.
After enjoying the view of the illuminated skyline for a while, we made our way back to the hotel. In a restaurant around the corner the evening found its relaxed end.
Thursday March, 29th 2018
The first morning in Shanghai started with a good breakfast in combination with a great view from the terrace of the hotel.
Today, two very interesting company visits were on our agenda.
Our first company visit on this day was at Siemens who have had business relationships with China since 1872 where they exported the first pointer telegraphs to China.
At Siemens Real Estate we were welcomed by Mr. Ralf Distler (Head of Communications), who gave us in the first of two presentations an interesting overview of Siemens in China. In particular he explained the long company history how Siemens entered the Chinese market already in the 19th century and also how diverse Siemens is set up. Siemens in China is active in the areas of power and gas, mobility, health care and digital factory which is the biggest field at the moment.
Siemens employs more than 32,000 people in China of which about 2,000 work at the Shanghai location. Even though Germany is still the biggest market for Siemens more than 10 % of the global revenue comes from China and it keeps rising.
The Siemens Real Estate is an own area and owner of all sites and buildings of the branches with profit and loss responsibility. They have the overall responsibility for all real estate activities at Siemens, like managing the portfolio, optimising the land use, responsible for the rental and use of sites and buildings and are also responsible for all construction projects of Siemens. The area they have to manage in China is about the size of 80 soccer fields.
One of the big projects they are currently working on is to become a CO2 neutral company by 2030. A reduction by 50 % should already be achieved by 2022. This project is even more impressive because it is a self-financing project by using an efficient energy programme and through the use of solar systems and gas turbines.
Another project that we could notice ourselves is to equip the buildings with an air purification system which especially in cities like Shanghai, with a high air pollution, is a great added value. We could directly feel the difference in air quality.
The next presentation was held by Mr. Lukas Funk the CEO of DBEST (Beijing) Facility Technology Management. After his introduction, he gave us a good overview about the challenges that arise for an international operating company. Afterwards he gave us a good overview about the service company DBEST Facility Technology Management (a Joint Venture of Apleona HSG, Beijing International Technology Cooperation Center (BITCC) and Siemens Ltd. China), founded in 2014 their slogan is “From Technology to Competivity”. We also very much appreciated that Mr. Distler and Mr. Funke gave us some insights in how it is in general to live in China. At the end of the company visit Siemens kindly invited us to lunch for which we would like to again say thank you.
After our company visit at Siemens we drove to KUKA Robotics a leading manufacturer of robotic systems where we had the chance to see some of the industrial robots in the showroom and afterwards had a very interesting and informative tour through the production facility.
In 2017, KUKA produced over 11,000 robots in two shifts and for 2018, they even plan to produce over 18,000 and the introduction of a third shift. From our point of view impressive production figures as each robot is adapted to the needs of every single customer (e.g. heat-resistant robots, clean room robots, etc.).
Due to the high demand, a second production facility is currently under construction which will start production at the end of June.
After the last company visit of the day, the bus took us back to the hotel.