HANOVER, Germany, Sept. 20 (Xinhua) -- A central Chinese city held an auto industry cluster promotion conference on Thursday at the biannual IAA Commercial Vehicles in the German city of Hanover, focusing on auto industry cooperation with European partners.
Xiangyang, in central China's Hubei Province, is an important gathering place for the automobile industry in China.
The city aims to establish all-round and multi-level cooperation with European countries represented by Germany in the development of automobile industry, said Xiangyang deputy mayor Zhang Xiaofan.
Thomas Hermann, deputy mayor of Hanover, welcomed Chinese exhibitors and guests during his speech.
"It is of particular importance for Hanover as a fair and car city to host the IAA and that Xiangyang could get inspirations here for its future development," Hermann said.
Tao Bailiang, commercial counselor of general consulate of China in Hamburg, believed China and Germany will move from traditional manufacturing cooperation to intelligent R&D cooperation in the automotive field, along with China's new round of opening up policy.
"The field is broader and more abundant. Huge space for cooperation has been created for the business community," Tao said.
The 67th trade fair includes 2,174 exhibitors from around 48 countries and regions. In total, exhibitors present 435 global premieres for the commercial vehicle sector, a record figure for the IAA, on an area of 282,000 square meters.
