Premier Wen visits Audi headquarters
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2004-05-03 14:51

Premier Wen Jiabao Sunday visited the headquarters of Audi AG in Ingolstadt, southern Germany, and witnessed the signing of an agreement between the Volkswagan automobile giant and its Chinese cooperation partner.

The Chinese premier, accompanied by Bavarian Minister-President Edmund Stoiber, was shown around the assembly line and an Audi car exhibition.

Wen, who arrived in the southern city of Munich earlier in the day on a three-day official visit to Germany, said he hoped the German automobile makers could transfer its technology to its Chinese partners, expand cooperation on joint research and development and enhance personnel training. "I believe, our cooperation partnership will be constantly developed," he said.

The Chinese premier then attended a signing ceremony for an intention agreement on setting up a new joint venture plant near Shanghai between Volkswagen AG and Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. Volkswagen, including Audi, boasts the biggest automobile share on the Chinese market. Volkswagen AG has sold nearly 700,000 automobiles in China in 2003, a 36 percent increase over the previous year. Audi has sold 63,000 automobiles in China in the past year.

Volkswagen and its Chinese partners are planning to jointly invest 5.3 billion euros in China in the next five years, Thomas Mickeleit from Audi AG told reporters.

During his visit to Germany, the Chinese premier will meet with German President Johannes Rau, Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and address a group of German business representatives.

Germany is the first leg of Wen Jiabao's five-nation Europeantour, which will also take him to Belgium, Italy, Britain and Ireland. He will also visit the European Union headquarters in Brussels.