Quotable

"China is now entering more and more developed countries, particularly Germany. For the time being, the total proportion is still moderate. What is important is the trend. The trend is still going up."

Martin Broda, general manager of the Beijing Branch of Commerzbank, saying that Chinese investment in Germany will maintain its robust momentum in the near future, while auto parts manufacturing is likely to become an emerging sector under more mergers and acquisitions by Chinese enterprises chasing advanced technology.

"These documents will give users a fresh, important perspective on the workings of one of the world's most dynamic economies."

Francis Gurry, the World Intellectual Property Organization director-general, saying WIPO has added China's national patent collection of about 3 million documents to its online database, bringing the total number in the database to about 32.5 million. In 2011, Chinese residents filed 415,829 patent applications, the most of any country in the world for the second year running.

"Most of the second generation of family businesses have studied abroad, which offered them systematic training in business operations. But they don't have enough work experience to manage the whole business yet."

Rui Meng, co-director of the China Europe International Business School's Kaifeng Center for Family Heritage, commenting on a 2013 Family Business Report released by Forbes China that says the second generation of family businesses in China seem to be inferior to their predecessors in terms of running their companies.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 09/27/2013 page18)