Germany remains most attractive target for investors

A worker at the Sany plant in Germany. Sany's German growth is taking place as it gains a manufacturing presence in India, Brazil and the United States. [Photo/China Daily]

A 30-minute ride from the German city of Dusseldorf takes you to Bedburg, where there is a road called Sany Allee, along with a bus stop bearing this name.

The road leads to the gate of China's biggest green field investment in Europe so far, the German operations of heavy equipment manufacturer Sany Group Co Ltd.

Work is already in full swing at the No 1 production hall of Sany's factory, which has given a new lease of life to this former mining area in the Ruhr, Germany's industrial heart.

And plans are afoot to build the No 2 production hall at the factory, which mainly manufactures heavy construction equipment for the European and African markets

Involving a total investment of 100 million euros ($125 million), Hunan province-based Sany's factory, which took a year to build, opened for business in 2011.

The group set up Sany Germany Co Ltd in the German city of Cologne as its European headquarters in 2008, its third overseas regional headquarters and investment region after India and the United States. It also has offices in France, Italy, Poland and Turkey

Christiane Linkenbach, Sany Germany's marketing and media officer, said it is the biggest single investment so far by a Chinese company in Europe.

But maybe Sany has actually beaten its own record. This year, Sany purchased a 90 percent stake in German concrete pump manufacturer Putzmeister for 324 million euros.

"It was the owner of Putzmeister who asked Sany to buy his company. So it was not an attack by Sany. Sany was asked and this is a very big difference," said Linkenbach.

When Sany planned to enter the German market, this meant that it would have Putzmeister as a competitor. "Now we are in the same family and we need to readjust our global strategy," she said.

Both companies have benefited from the deal, with Putzmeister getting an urgently needed injection of capital, while Sany gains by plugging into the German company's distribution network.

After the deal, the owner of Putzmeister maintained his position at the company and has also become the first European to sit on Sany's board of directors.

"So you see that Sany is also open and ready to listen to European ideas. This, from my point of view, is very positive," said Linkenbach.