Henkel Group to introduce global sustainable innovations to the China market

German industrial conglomerate Henkel Group is eager to increase its market share by driving growth in fields such as new energy vehicles, consumer electronics and advanced manufacturing through innovative adhesive solutions in China over the next three years, said a senior executive.

As China develops new quality productive forces, innovative technologies are driving the transformation toward digitization and green, low-carbon development, which have provided companies like Henkel with broader development opportunities, said Anna An, president of Henkel Greater China.

New quality productive forces refer to advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth modes and productivity development paths featuring high-tech, high efficiency and high quality forces in line with new development philosophy.

"For example, our comprehensive solutions for new energy vehicles enable vehicle lightweighting and promotes a safer driving experience," An said at Henkel's booth during the seventh China International Import Expo in Shanghai last week.

Noting that the CIIE has become a vital platform to sustain collaboration and partnerships, An said that Henkel is looking forward to bringing more of its global sustainable innovations to the local market, fostering collaboration with both local and international companies, and growing alongside the high-quality development of the Chinese market.

The German company introduced its flexible display protection solution, an innovative encapsulation method designed for narrow-bezel, high-end smartphones, offering new design possibilities to its customers this year.

Henkel has steadily increased its investment in China, accelerating local innovation in recent years. It has established an Asia-focused consumer goods R&D center and a South China electronics adhesive application center within the country.

The German company is currently building an adhesive innovation experience center in Shanghai, along with a new manufacturing facility in Shandong province.

With the structure of foreign investment continuing to be optimized, China saw the high-tech manufacturing sector use 77.12 billion yuan ($10.87 billion) in foreign direct investment in the first three quarters of 2024, accounting for 12 percent of the national total, according to the Ministry of Commerce. That is an increase of 1.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

In the meantime, investment from Germany and Singapore in China surged by 19.3 percent and 11.6 percent year-on-year, respectively.