SHENYANG, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of robots do smart welding, avoiding wasting energy and preventing sparks from flying. Workers tighten screws with the help of smart monitoring devices. Cars of every color roll off the assembly line.
BMW Brilliance Automotive's smart manufacturing plant in Shenyang, capital of northeast China's Liaoning Province, embodies the synergizing of China's "Made in China 2025" plan and Germany's Industry 4.0 concept.
China-Germany Equipment Manufacturing Industrial Park in Tiexi District, Shenyang, became China's first platform for high-end equipment manufacturing cooperation between the two countries in late 2015.
On May 19, the BMW assembly plant, which currently accommodates two whole-vehicle assembly plants, an engine plant and an R&D center, began full operations. It is one of the largest smart production bases of BMW Group.
Founded in 2003, BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd is a joint venture of BMW Group and Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd.
BMW's annual capacity in Shenyang has increased to 450,000 units. Over the past eight years, investment has reached about 4.8 billion euros, said Nicolas Peter, BMW AG Board of Management Member for Finance.
Peter said BMW continues to be optimistic about China's potential and will do more to make use of Germany's Industry 4.0 and "Made-in-China 2025".
The China-Germany equipment manufacturing park is a key step toward rejuvenating the old industrial bases in northeast China, which has gone through a lot of troubles in the past few years.
"Local technical and management personnel learn the expertise from German companies and provide new momentum for revival." said Jiang Youwei, mayor of Shenyang.
The industrial park has more than 130 projects, about half of which are already running or close to, attracting firms not just from Germany, but from all over Europe. Total investment is nearly 50 billion yuan (7.3 billion U.S. dollars).
In Q1, the output of the park was 14.5 billion yuan, double the same period last year.
"We are working to establish intellectual property rights protection mechanisms with international standards," said Li Songlin, Communist Party chief of Tiexi District.
Other measures have been adopted to support the park. The district government has cut administrative fees to reduce costs for startups, he added. To help investment and trade, the China-Germany park enjoys policy coordination with a free trade zone in Liaoning.
"The park is rapidly becoming a cooperation platform of joint contributions and shared benefits," said Shenyang Mayor Jiang Youwei.
