(JW Insights) Sep 8 -- Bosch, a German engineering and technology giant, is committed to the Chinese market and will increase investment in the country, including in emerging sectors related to clean energy and green mobility, reported China Daily on September 8, citing a top company executive.

Bosch will tap into the huge opportunity created by China's goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, he said.

Bosch operates 34 manufacturing sites and 26 technical centers in China, with more than 58,000 employees, including some 10,000 working on research and development.

"China and the Chinese market will stay very important. We have no intent to lower our engagement. It is absolutely the opposite," Markus Heyn, member of the Bosch board of management and chairman of Bosch Mobility, told China Daily at the IAA Mobility 2023 being held in Munich.

Bosch announced earlier this year it will invest some $1 billion to establish a site in Suzhou, about 100 kilometers from Shanghai, for new energy vehicles and automated driving-related businesses. A groundbreaking ceremony for the site was held in March.

Stefan Hartung, Bosch Group chairman, described the investment as "an important milestone which represents Bosch's commitment to shaping the future of mobility in China".

Bosch had invested RMB50 billion ($7 billion) in China in the past decade, according to company figures released at the end of 2022.

Heyn said it is a "good thing" to see a record number of Chinese exhibitors at the IAA Mobility 2023. Increasing competition from Chinese companies is a positive for German carmakers. Bosch has good relations with many Chinese original equipment manufacturers or OEMs.

Bosch China's R&D expenses totaled RMB10 billion ($1.4 billion) in 2022 alone. Heyn cited Bosch's 35,000 workforce in China in mobility alone, something unimaginable 20 years ago. He said he is very proud of Bosch's R&D team in China, saying they are "very capable people", according to the China Daily report.

(Gao J/Yuan XY)