Hamburg looks to closer ties with Shanghai

Hamburg and Shanghai are expected to cooperate on several fronts, including smart city, intelligent transportation, digital technology and cultural events while the two cities will sign a memorandum of understanding on Tuesday to keep its sister-city relations and renew the partnership, Hamburg’s First Mayor Peter Tschentscher said in Shanghai.

“We look forward to having closer ties with Shanghai after years of good cooperation in areas like port development,” Tschentscher said during a media briefing on Monday. The First Mayor arrived in Shanghai on Sunday with a 50-strong delegation involved in business, culture and science.

Tschentscher attended the third Shanghai-Hamburg Business Forum, visited the Shanghai office of COSCO Shipping, and visited some of the Hamburg-based companies in Shanghai on Monday.

As a leader in testing driverless vehicles, Hamburg  expects to share its experience with Shanghai on smart transportation, said Tschentscher. 

Hamburg will host the ITS World Congress in 2021 — an international conference focusing on intelligent transport systems.

According to official reports, over 550 Chinese companies have offices in Hamburg, making it home to more Chinese businesses than any other European city. Many industrial heavyweights like COSCO Shipping and ZPMC have selected Hamburg as their headquarters in Europe.

Moreover, about 900 Hamburg businesses are engaged in trade with China, coordinating their China-related imports and exports for the whole of Europe.