The journey begins before departure—and does not end at the airport.

If you already know whom you want to meet, which questions you want to discuss and how to organise a suitable technical exchange, a direct visit certainly makes sense.

China Industry Deep Dive offers more than scheduling visits. Developed by Sino-Cooperation, the brand is also a platform connecting hands-on professionals from German and Chinese industry. Our core team, led by Wei Zhang and Yijun Yu, works closely with experienced industry experts and advisers in Germany and China: we provide the network and operational infrastructure in China; our partners contribute in-depth sector knowledge and their clients’ trust.

If you know which decision you need to prepare, but not yet which locations and counterparts are relevant, we develop a targeted programme from your strategic requirements. We select suitable companies, organise technical exchange and continue to pursue promising cooperation opportunities after the journey.

Our value lies in connecting industry understanding, dialogue with decision-makers and local implementation—not in adding more appointments.

A conventional visit often follows the host’s presentation sequence: company history, product display, tour and group photograph. Our starting point is the business question you want to clarify.

Preparation takes place on both sides. We discuss the technical background, your business objectives and key questions with you. Host companies also receive a detailed technical briefing before departure. This ensures they understand the discussion priorities and select counterparts whose expertise and decision-making level fit your needs.

If you are interested in flexible manufacturing, for example, we look beyond the number of installed robots. We ask:

• How is production adjusted as orders become smaller and variants more numerous?
• How long does a model changeover take, and which steps remain manual?
• How does the system respond to material shortages or equipment failure?
• Which metrics have improved through automation, and what additional maintenance work has arisen?

The same factory can host a general tour or a substantive technical discussion. The difference comes from preparation on both sides, on-site technical dialogue and subsequent follow-up.

To examine a clearly defined question in depth: yes. To make every decision conclusively: no.

In three days, you can meet the key participants in an industrial cluster, compare different technical or business approaches and identify companies worth further discussion. This makes subsequent research more focused.

However, a Deep Dive does not replace a supplier audit, long-term testing, investment due diligence or contract negotiations.

We therefore do not recommend trying to understand the Chinese market, select suppliers, assess equity investments and establish sales channels all within three days.

The more specific the objective, the greater the value. Rather than trying to cover an entire industry at once, we should first answer a question that genuinely influences your next step.

We explicitly exclude purely sales-oriented visits. We organise peer-to-peer technical discussions and insight into industrial practice, rather than accepting company presentations uncritically as findings.

We take you into real manufacturing and R&D settings. Using actual processes, operating data and industrial applications, we discuss technology maturity, integration problems and economics. Accessible areas and data that can be discussed are agreed with hosts in advance, and their confidentiality requirements are respected.

We also complement company discussions with perspectives from industry associations, investors and researchers. We distinguish between:

• How does a company describe its own capabilities?
• What can actually be observed on site?
• How do other industry participants assess the same question?
• Where are data or additional checks still missing?

A successful robot demonstration shows that the system can perform the task under the demonstrated conditions. It does not yet prove that it can operate reliably for an entire shift. We help you recognise these distinctions rather than simply take away impressive demonstrations.

Because a company’s capabilities partly arise from its surroundings, not solely from its own factory or development department.

In Quanzhou, several specialist companies may contribute to material selection, sampling and production for a single product. Looking only at the brand at the end of that chain does not explain where development speed comes from.

Likewise, a Shenzhen robotics company’s ability to iterate can only be assessed in the context of component supply, engineering, data access and application partners.

In Chongqing, automotive transformation is taking place not only among vehicle manufacturers but also in foundries, materials companies, machining and research.

We therefore ask: which capabilities does the company possess itself, and which does it access through its industrial environment? This distinction matters when assessing the value of cooperation or whether an approach can be transferred.

That depends on your question, not on whether your company belongs to a currently fashionable technology sector.

If you are dealing with smaller batch sizes, personnel costs, delivery pressure, new materials or new market entry, the experience of established manufacturers may be more revealing than a spectacular technology demonstration.

The Quanzhou itinerary, for example, examines how existing factories organise materials, people, equipment and data, and how materials development feeds into specific products.

In Chongqing, you can observe which machining, casting and manufacturing capabilities retain their value during the transition to new vehicle technologies—and which need to be added.

You do not need to be a technology company to investigate how technology changes your business.

The question comes first, then the city.

Shenzhen: robotics and Embodied AI

For companies seeking to understand robotics supply chains, key components, perception and manipulation capabilities, and the prerequisites for commercial applications.

What matters is not which movements a robot can demonstrate, but the conditions under which it works reliably.

Quanzhou: textiles and footwear, flexible manufacturing and materials innovation

For companies with questions about production organisation, automated intralogistics, functional materials, product development and brand supply chains.

The focus is on how an established manufacturing cluster improves production efficiency, shortens development times and creates additional value.

Chongqing: automotive, advanced manufacturing and lightweight engineering

For companies working on new-energy vehicle production, factory digitalisation, foundry technology, aluminium and magnesium materials, or the further development of existing manufacturing capabilities.

Here, the issue is how product changes create new requirements for materials, processes, equipment and supply chains.

If your question spans several regions, we can discuss a combined itinerary. Additional cities should bring technical value, however, not simply lengthen the journey.

The format can support different objectives. The priority must be established before the journey, however.

Those seeking to understand technological developments need different counterparts and preparation from a company selecting suppliers. Finding Chinese customers also differs from finding partners for the European market.

For example:

• Technology understanding: Compare different solutions and their application conditions.
• Sourcing: Examine quality systems, capacity, delivery capability and validation requirements.
• Joint development: Clarify technical interfaces, each side’s contributions and test conditions.
• Market entry: Understand actual application needs and purchasing decision processes.

We exclude one-sided sales presentations by hosts, not specific business objectives. Sourcing, joint development and market entry should rest on peer-to-peer technical assessment. We do not portray general discussions as commercial success; we connect you with suitable partners according to your agreed objectives and pursue the next steps.

Technical fit and decision-making authority are equally important.

We ensure that your counterparts are business leaders or senior managers with a technical background. You should be able to discuss technology, supply chains and strategic cooperation substantively, rather than simply receive a product or showroom presentation.

Depending on the topic, production, quality, development and testing managers are also involved. Process stability requires people who know operations. Joint development and resource allocation also require counterparts who can advance decisions.

Through technical preparation on both sides, we match your questions with hosts’ roles, expertise and decision-making levels. Specific individuals are confirmed during programme coordination. The commitment to technical depth and dialogue with decision-makers remains.

No. The named companies and institutions initially illustrate the industrial areas and technical questions of a possible itinerary. Naming them does not constitute confirmed visit access.

Specific hosts, accessible areas and counterparts are agreed according to the delegation profile, visit purpose, dates and hosting possibilities.

If a stop is not feasible, an alternative should ideally fulfil the same learning objective. If the topic is smart intralogistics, for example, a site with comparable production conditions and system questions is more useful than an arbitrary well-known company.

The confirmed programme should clearly identify each stop’s purpose, discussion format and known restrictions.

Closed-door technical symposia and in-depth individual meetings are central to our approach of connecting industrial insights with practical cooperation. They are not networking appointments added to fill the programme.

We select potential partners and bring them together based on both sides’ requirements. What matters is not just company names, but technical capabilities, application problems and genuine interest in cooperation.

For example, a German company supplies gripping technology for flexible materials. A Chinese manufacturer has difficulty reliably feeding a particular fabric. This creates specific discussion points:

• What are the properties of the material and workpiece?
• How is the task currently performed?
• Which cycle time and quality must be achieved?
• Are samples and suitable test conditions available?
• Who will handle the next technical discussion?

We also include perspectives from industry associations, investors and researchers, turning individual visits into a connected industry dialogue.

Specific participants and dates are coordinated and confirmed in advance. The objective is technical and business opportunities that can be pursued, not the largest possible collection of business cards.

Yes. Two cases illustrate different objectives.

The Ningbo case focused on matching technology to applications.
Five European technology companies discussed their strip steel and precision-processing capabilities with relevant Chinese companies and research institutions. Factory visits complemented discussions of specific process questions. The focus was on finding applications where European technology could contribute, rather than presenting that technology in general. Request the Ningbo PDF case report

The digitalisation journey in the Greater Bay Area focused on comparing different implementation approaches.
A seven-day itinerary connected manufacturers, platforms and technology providers around a German digitalisation expert’s questions. It examined how digitalisation and AI enter actual operating and production processes. Read the digitalisation case

These examples demonstrate how we work. They do not imply that a future journey will involve the same counterparts or results.

You do not need to be a China expert. What matters is your own business experience and the questions you bring.

You may not yet know how work is divided locally, but you understand your own factory’s delivery problems. You may not know Chinese suppliers, but you know precisely which quality requirements your product must meet. These are good starting points.

Working languages and interpreting services are agreed during programme planning. Product information, technical terminology and key questions should also be prepared for technical discussions.

Technical understanding means more than translating a sentence correctly. Both sides need to be sure that they are discussing the same material, operating conditions and assessment criteria.

No. The handshake is only the beginning. Further business development is an essential part of our approach.

Our local team helps you continue technical and commercial discussions, assess cooperation opportunities and translate promising ideas into specific next steps and project implementation. We do not simply introduce contacts; we continuously help both sides overcome communication barriers and develop cooperation.

A tailored monthly Executive Briefing also tracks developments in your relevant industry segments, new technologies and possible cooperation. In this way, we remain your “eyes and ears” in China. Insights from a journey should continue to develop after you return.

Sourcing, investment and cooperation decisions rest with the companies involved. We therefore do not guarantee a business agreement or equate a meeting with a commercial result. Our work nevertheless goes beyond understanding: we help turn insights and contacts into specific business opportunities.

Further tasks, responsibilities and the briefing’s thematic priorities are defined during project planning.

These depend on the project’s scope. A fixed package should not be decided before your requirements are clear.

Relevant factors include cities and duration, group size, technical depth, interpreting, transport and accommodation, as well as the specific design of symposia, matchmaking and subsequent support. The programme and proposal specify services, responsibilities, and included and excluded costs.

You do not need a finished itinerary for the first conversation. Five pieces of information are enough to start:

1. Your company and industry;
2. the expected number of participants and their roles;
3. the three most important questions you want to clarify;
4. your preferred dates and any already fixed cities or trade fairs;
5. the decision or cooperation you want to advance after returning.

Industry experts, independent advisers, associations, industrial clusters, trade media and consulting companies can also initiate a project with us. You contribute industry knowledge, client trust and participants; we handle planning, network coordination and delivery in China. Together, we turn a journey into lasting value for your clients.

Our first question is not how many companies can fit into a day. It is: which insights, discussions and subsequent work will genuinely move your company forward?