Chinese virtues at CeBIT 2015
China's growing tech industry has been in the focus at this year's IT trade fair in Hanover. DW reporter Cui Mu has examined the impact left by the Asian powerhouse on CeBIT participants and visitors.
'Speed and pragmatism'
Ferri Abolhassan, the head of Deutsche Telekom's T-Systems division, believes speed and pragmatism best describe the way of doing business with Chinese tech firms these days. At CeBIT2015, T-Systems and Chinese Huawai entered into a strategic partnership.
'Beyond low-cost'
Chen Yanke works for a computer maker in South China and says the company he represents aspires to "achieve something which makes us really proud." While his company was focused on low-cost production in its early days, more sophisticated production and products is the order of the day now he points out, while attending CeBIT for the first time ever.
'Individualism'
CeBIT visitor Peter and his friend Olliver have come to appreciate the flexible skills of Chinese information technology experts. Peter is an IT specialist himself and says the Chinese are able to "meet individual customers' demands perfectly."
'Internet freedom = freedom of speech'
Hanno Schedler from the Society of Threatened Peoples is calling for the release of arrested Chinese Internet bloggers and urges Beijing to stop Internet censorship. On the sidelines of this year's IT fair, human rights organizations staged protests, saying Germany's policy of "change through trade" has failed with respect to China.
'Power of innovation, opportuntity'
Markus Leberecht, cloud solution expert at chipmaker Intel says: "We appreciate the Chinese tech industry's power to innovate and see plenty of opportunity to advance the IT sector worldwide." Ahead of CeBIT2015, Intel and mobile phone manufacturer Huawei announced a collaboration in the cloud computing sector. Leberecht says the two firms could be both "partners and competitors."
'Communication'
Communication is everything for trade fair visitor Marc, who had just been trying to speak with Chinese company representatives: "I've come to realize that my abilities to communicate, and those of my Chinese counterparts, aren't sufficient enough," he said, adding that the English spoken on both sides wasn't the best. Himself an IT specialist, he was looking out for Chinese partners.
'Need to study harder'
...is the CeBIT lesson learned by Chinese student Xiao Zhou, who studies at Hanover Polytechnic University. During the trade fair, she works for a Chinese restaurant and delivers about 100 meals a day - which leaves her very little time to walk around and peruse the stalls, just like all the other students working at the fair.
'Made in Taiwan - come on Taiwan!'
"These days young Taiwanese are no longer as industrious and ambitious as those of previous generations," says Vicky, who comes from there. They are just interested in making money quickly, she thinks, which is bound to hurt the country's competitiveness in the long run. She is employed by a mid-sized Taiwanese company that produces stands for computer monitors.