Managing director visits China

For the second time this year, the Chairman of our Board of Management travelled to Asia. Anna Engel-Köhler was accompanied by Dr. Tido Janssen, the Director of our Chinese company Shanghai Bavarian Vocational Training (sbvtc).

The focus was exchanges with policy makers intended to get a number of joint projects off the ground. A "Centre for Employment and Practice" will therefore be set up by sbvtc on behalf of Shanghai Central Employment Services and the regional Employment Centre. The idea is that every year, several hundred university students and employees of German companies will be taught there. 

This training will take place in two phases: Theoretical training will take place first, which will familiarise participants with commercial principles, among other topics. The next phase is then practical skills, where participants are placed with the sbvtc training firm. This is a small-scale version of a so-called "smart factory", an "intelligent factory". This means a production environment in which production facilities largely self-organise without the need for human intervention. This means that courses in robotics and logistics will be on the sbvtc curriculum for learners. The project launch was scheduled for the end of 2017, and it will run for three years.

At what time the different courses will start and what content they will cover, was the topic of various discussions with officials from the employment service and the Shanghai Employment Centre. There was also a look back at completed projects, including training for long-term unemployed young people that has been running since 2014. "The exchange took place in a very friendly atmosphere. Officials show great interest in our offers and valued our practical experience from the German industry", concluded Engel-Koehler's at the end of the trip.  

The People's Republic of China is one of the most dynamic economic regions in the world. It is seeking to achieve quality and productivity standards, based on international industry standards. Germany and its education and training system are regarded in high esteem by China. In addition, many German companies, who also appreciate and demand the quality of German vocational training, have made investments in China. These are promising conditions for the export of professional training services. The bfz gGmbH has recognised this and has been active in China since 1998: Initially as part of a Joint Venture and now with local premises in the form of a wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Bavarian Vocational Training Consulting Co., Ltd. (sbvtc), has approximately 20 employees.