was invited to attend a roundtable of Sino-German entrepreneurs and was the only smart electric vehicle company present.

(Image credit: CnEVPost)

William Li, founder, chairman and CEO of Nio (NYSE: NIO), was one of the entrepreneurs who accompanied the Chinese Premier to Europe and participated in high-level Sino-German meetings.

On June 20 local time, 15 Chinese and German companies, including Nio, State Grid, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China and SenseTime, were invited to attend a roundtable of Sino-German entrepreneurs in Berlin, Nio Europe vice president Zhang Hui announced yesterday on the company's mobile app.

Nio is the only smart electric vehicle (EV) company among them, and Li participated in the roundtable, Zhang said, adding that the Nio CEO also attended the 11th China-Germany Economic and Technical Cooperation Forum on the same day.

As an EV company that insists on global development, Nio has developed a deep presence in Germany, Zhang said.

The company set up a global design center in Munich in 2015 and an innovation center in Berlin in 2022 to explore smart cockpits, autonomous driving and energy technologies.

Nio currently employs more than 1,300 people in Europe, mostly in Germany, Zhang said, adding that the company is creating more jobs in Germany as its research and development business deepens.

Meanwhile, Nio has established good relationships with German companies, including ZF, Continental and Bosch, and is actively seeking opportunities for broader supply chain cooperation, he said.

Nio has now entered five European countries -- Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden and Norway -- and is delivering models locally including the ES8, ET7, EL7 and ET5.

The company has six Nio Houses, five Nio Spaces and 49 service centers overseas. It also has 16 battery swap stations, 8 charging stations, 26 charging piles overseas, and access to over 400,000 overseas third-party charging piles overseas.

In Germany, Nio has three Nio Houses, located in Berlin, Frankfurt and Dusseldorf, Zhang noted.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is visiting Europe, his first trip since the formation of the new Chinese government. Li was previously the party chief in Shanghai, where Nio is headquartered.

Premier Li and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz jointly attended the Sino-German entrepreneur roundtable on June 20, local time, and exchanged views with more than 30 business representatives, according to a report by Xinhua.

The governments of both sides should create a favorable environment and stable expectations for business operations so that enterprises can study and respond to risks in accordance with market and economic laws, and achieve mutual benefits and win-win situations in open cooperation, Li said.

China will continue to expand its opening to the outside world and continue to build a market-oriented, rule of law and international business environment, Li said, adding that he hopes Germany will continue to keep its market open and create a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory business environment for Chinese companies to invest in Germany.

There is a vast space for Sino-German cooperation in fields including the digital economy, artificial intelligence, and green development, and with the joint efforts of entrepreneurs from both countries, Sino-German cooperation will surely continue to achieve new results, he said.

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