China Daily | China is 'home away from home,’ says Benz chairman - video Dailymotion

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How foreign businesses such as Mercedes-Benz Group AG look at the Chinese market amid economic challenges? The company’s chairman Ola Kallenius shares his views with China Daily.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

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00:00 Amid the mountain protectionism, China remains committed to expanding opening up.

00:14 The Chinese government has recently removed all the restrictions on foreign investment

00:20 access in the manufacturing sector.

00:23 How foreign businesses view this policy change and how they look at the Chinese market?

00:28 In an interview with China Daily, Ola Klainos, Chairman of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz,

00:35 shares his views with us.

00:37 China has a large automobile market in terms of both demand and supply, and Mercedes-Benz

00:44 is a significant player in the Chinese auto market.

00:48 How is China being positioned in Mercedes-Benz's global strategy?

00:53 China is the biggest car market in the world.

00:56 And for a globally leading company like Mercedes-Benz, naturally China is also our biggest market.

01:03 So over the many years we have grown and we have a strong position here.

01:06 A lot of Mercedes-Benz fans, loyal customer base, but we want to set ourselves up for

01:12 growth into the future.

01:13 So it's much more than just the market.

01:17 We have a large production base here.

01:20 Most of the Mercedeses that we sell in China are made in China.

01:23 We have been continuously expanding our R&D activities, opened up a new bigger R&D center

01:29 here in Beijing two years ago.

01:31 And we're also expanding our supply base and our tech partners.

01:34 So it's a 360 degree strategy for Mercedes-Benz in China.

01:40 Internally, sometimes we call it a home away from home.

01:44 The European Commission has initiated anti-subsidy probe on imports of electric vehicles from

01:50 China.

01:52 So do you think the move is necessary?

01:56 What's your take on this?

01:57 As far as Mercedes-Benz is concerned, and we as the inventors of the automobile, we

02:02 were one of the first companies more than 100 years ago to go internationally into the

02:06 markets.

02:08 And I think that has been the success story ever since.

02:11 Opening up markets, taking down trade barriers, making competition free and open for all players.

02:20 So my sincere hope is that as we discuss how a WTO-based trade order is developed further,

02:29 that we don't take the route towards more protectionism.

02:32 Because that will not lead to economic growth.

02:35 It will not create wealth.

02:37 So we very, very clearly advocate for, please reduce trade barriers.

02:45 Don't seek for ways to increase trade barriers.

02:49 Have a level playing field for all competitors around the world.

02:54 And don't retract into an inward-looking focus.

02:59 And that's my hope for this as well.

03:03 China and the EU remain each other's major trading partner.

03:07 However, the European Commission unveiled a de-risking strategy to reduce the so-called

03:13 risks associated with excessive dependence on China.

03:17 So how do you think such a policy of de-risking or decoupling will affect businesses of European

03:24 companies like Mercedes-Benz?

03:25 In fact, the choice that we are making for Mercedes-Benz in China and for China is we're

03:32 going to increase our investments in China because we believe in the long-term prospects

03:36 of this market.

03:38 We also believe in the innovation ecosystem that you find here.

03:43 So as I just mentioned before, we're increasing our R&D activities in China for China, but

03:49 also for the world.

03:51 So our business strategy is to increase our footprint in China.

03:56 The China-EU summit will take place in the near future.

04:00 If you got a chance to meet the leaders from both sides, what would you say to the policymakers?

04:07 Focus on win-win.

04:08 Focus on the things that we can do together.

04:11 There will be differences always in some matters between major powers and major economic

04:16 regions.

04:17 But look at what the recipe for success was over the last 30 years as we have had a WTO-driven

04:24 opening up of markets.

04:26 Look at the success story of China opening up.

04:28 And I could see some comments this week from the president that China will continue to

04:33 open up.

04:34 I think that is the only way forward because capital and investment will seek opportunity.

04:41 And if you open your markets and you make your markets more attractive to investment,

04:45 you will attract more capital and you will then create jobs and economic growth.

04:51 The Chinese government remains committed to opening up.

04:56 President Xi Jinping announced at the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation

05:01 that China will remove all restrictions on foreign investment access in the manufacturing

05:07 sector.

05:08 How do you view this change?

05:11 Is it good news for foreign businesses?

05:13 I think it's good news for any company.

05:16 I think it's also good news for China.

05:19 Any one entrepreneurial unit, any one company that seeks to expand their business, invest

05:26 capital, they will look at the circumstances in the economic regions.

05:31 What's the risk?

05:32 What's the return?

05:33 If you start removing barriers, you lower the risk and you increase the chance for return.

05:40 So that particular move by China to open up even more, I think it's a smart move.

05:46 And I believe it could lead to more foreign direct investment and perhaps also more opportunity

05:51 for us at Mercedes-Benz.

05:53 Do you have any plans for the expansion or further investment in China?

05:59 We have a very strong relationship with our joint venture partner here in Beijing, BIKE.

06:05 And speaking to them, we are now looking at next generation technologies.

06:09 So what are the next generation electric vehicles that we have in development?

06:14 What supply base do we need to use to make sure that we have the best technology for

06:19 Mercedes customers going forward?

06:22 How do we develop the digital offering in the car?

06:26 So yes, on a broad range of activities, we are expanding and investing into the future.

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China Daily | China is 'home away from home,’ says Benz chairman

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