On the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the city partnership between Berlin and Beijing, Klaus Wowereit, Governing Mayor of Berlin, and a German business delegation visited Beijing at the end of May. As part of this visit, Klaus Wowereit and Zhang Gong, Vice Mayor of Beijing, partook in the “Beijing-Berlin E-Mobility Conference”. The conference was hosted by the Berlin Agency for Electromobility (eMO) and the Sino-German Electric Vehicle Charging Project (SGEVCP). The SGEVCP is coordinated by GIZ and commissioned by the German government. In cooperation with partners from industry, academia and the Beijing government the project aims to support the set-up of private and public charging infrastructure for New Energy Vehicle (NEV) in Beijing. At the conference, the SGEVCP was presented by Dr. Zhixin Wu from the China Automotive Technology and Research Institute (CATARC).

Furthermore, Chinese and German representatives gave insights into different projects enabling electro-mobility in Beijing and Berlin, two showcase cities for the marketisation of electro-mobility in their respective countries. Zhang Jihong, Deputy Director-General of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, presented the NEV promotion programme in Beijing, e.g. financial purchase incentives and NEV alleviations of the local license plate lottery. Gernot Lobenberg, Director of eMO, introduced the “Showcase E-Mobility” programme, the central point of contact in Berlin for electro-mobility applications for partners from business, science, politics, and the city administration.

The conference emphasised the importance of promoting electro-mobility and highlighted the opportunities for joint learning. Within an inter-city dialogue further potentials are being explored to intensify the exchange between Berlin and Beijing.