Advanced Search

The story appears on

Page B3

October 31, 2014

GET this page in PDF

Free for subscribers

View shopping cart

Related News

Home » City specials » Suzhou

Businessman connects Taicang to Europe

By Yang Meiping | October 31, 2014, Friday | Print Edition

WHEN German companies want to start business in China, Manfred H. Krost, a 75-year-old German who owns a business consulting company, recommends Taicang of Suzhou. It’s not only because his company is there, but also because the county-level waterside city in east China’s Jiangsu Province has sound infrastructure and a pleasant cityscape, as well as a helpful government.

Krost arrived to Taicang in 1996 while working for Schaeffler, a leading international manufacturer of bearings and a renowned supplier to the automotive industry. He was on a business trip in Shanghai with a colleague and heard a German company had settled in Taicang, so they decided to have a look at the company and the city.

It was a summer Sunday and they took a taxi to Taicang. The journey took them less than an hour, which really surprised Krost. The green, clean, quiet and slow-paced city impressed him.

“It’s very similar to my hometown, a small town in south central Germany,” Krost said.

Coincidentally, Schaeffler decided to build a production center in China to promote its business in the Asia-Pacific region. It chose Taicang as its foothold and Krost as its general manager in China.

During his tenure from 1997 to 2004, the factory in Taicang expanded from 50 people to 350 and became one of Schaeffler’s largest production centers in the world and the largest German-funded enterprise in Jiangsu. Its annual sales volume increased with double-digit growth rates every year from several million yuan to over 100 million yuan (US$16.35 million).

On May 31, 2004, 65-year-old Krost retired and should have gone back to Germany to enjoy a generous pension and favorable welfare. But he decided to start his own firm to continue working in Taicang, providing consultation for foreign companies that wish to develop their businesses in China.

“Very seriously, I need something to do. I’m not the guy sitting in the coffee shop, reading from morning to evening newspapers, or watching TV. So I’m quite happy that I am busy,” Krost said.

“And it keeps me young to meet interesting people. It’s good for my brain. You have to concentrate. It’s quite good. I like it.”

Since his wife died in 2001 and his daughter has been married, Krost did not have many family concerns at that time. “Honestly, if my wife were alive, I would have gone back to Germany,” he said.

Instead, as a native German with plenty of experiences in China, Chinese culture, Chinese business and good relations with local government, he wishes to connect Germany and Europe with China via his consulting company.

Krost has provided consulting services to over 50 companies, 90 percent of which are German. With his “matchmaking” endeavors, 35 have invested in Taicang. Most of his clients are family-owned and emerging companies in Germany that are interested in investing in China.

“Big companies usually have already settled in China and have their own consulting sectors. My focus is on emerging firms,” he said.

Taicang has many advantages as a hub clustered with such medium and small enterprises, according to Krost.

Situated at the center of the Yangtze River Delta, the small city is ranked among the top 50 commercial cities on the Chinese mainland by Forbes magazine, with a population of 470,000 and an area of 809 square kilometers.

With a German Investment Industrial Park set up in 2006, Taicang is also the only Chinese city to be granted the name of “China-German enterprises cooperation base” by both the Chinese and German governments.

Small office buildings and workshops are provided in the industrial park for business start-ups, complete with favorable prices and tax deductions, and companies can move to bigger ones as their businesses grow, said Krost.

There are altogether over 200 German companies in Taicang, and more than 130 of them have contributed taxes to the local government, local officials said. German companies paid 1.14 billion yuan to the tax department in Taicang last year, up 88 percent from the previous year. It accounts for 8 percent of all the tax revenue of 2013 of local government.

Its proximity to Shanghai, the financial and transport hub in the region, also lures foreign investors.

Many German investors live in Qingpu District of Shanghai with their families, as it takes them only half an hour to drive to work in Taicang and there are plenty of German-French kindergartens and schools to accommodate their children.

Actually, Krost himself lives in Shanghai as many of his clients are executives of international companies on business trips in Shanghai, so he can talk to them easily.

Krost said German investors are also very keen on charity in Taicang. They have established an organization called “Taicang Round Table” and meet frequently to see if there is anything they can do for local people. He has donated 65,000 yuan to schools and communities in recent years.

In recognition of his contribution during the past 17 years, governments of Jiangsu, Suzhou and Taicang have awarded him numerous honorary titles, including honorary citizen of Suzhou, honorary citizen of Taicang, Jiangsu economic consultant. In September, he was presented the Jiangsu Friendship Award, the highest award for foreign experts working in the province.

Krost said that he was glad to be recognized by local people and governments, and he will work as long as possible to further contribute to cooperation between China and Germany.

Suzhou


 

Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.

沪公网安备 31010602000204号

Email this to your friend