Qingdao’s mayor, Zhang Xinqi (R) and Zhang Peijie, president of FAW-Volkswagen Auto Co, signing a cooperation agreement, in Qingdao, on Nov 3. FAW-Volkswagen plans to build a new base in Qingdao. [Photo/Curtesy of the Qingdao municipal government]

There was a signing ceremony for establishing an East China base for FAW-Volkswagen Automotive Co, a joint operation involving China’s First Automobile Works (FAW) and Germany’s Volkswagen Group, in the city of Qingdao, Shandong province, on Nov 3, where Xu Jianyi, chairman of FAW, declared that FAW-Volkswagen will work hard on holding the new facility to quality standards and getting it up and running as early as possible and do its best to make the new base a model for Chinese automobiles. Jochem Heizmann, head of Volkswagen Group China, told the gathering that the new plant will be producing some of the joint venture’s key products, with improved manufacturing techniques and technologies, and with higher environmental protection standards and will have top professionals to improve vocational training of employees.

Jiang Yikang, the provincial Party secretary, who took part in the ceremony hailed the joint venture’s new move, saying that the project will play an important role in Qingdao’s industrial improvements, sharpening Shandong’s competitive edge in the auto industry, and giving a boost to its equipment manufacturing sector.