LOS ANGELES, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- BMW welcomes China's rapid pace of opening up its market for foreign investment and introducing a series of incentives in the automobile industry, a senior manager of the German car giant told Xinhua Wednesday.
Klaus Frohlich, a member of the board of management of BMW AG, Development, made the remarks in an interview with Xinhua before the annual Los Angeles Auto Show scheduled from Nov. 30 to Dec. 9.
China is BMW's biggest market, Frohlich said, adding that the latest sales figures in October in China are very strong, jumping up 12 percent to 56,439.
Moreover, Frohlich said the further opening up will also help China boost the country's manufacturing capability.
"China's car industry has made so much progress. Perhaps the exporting of cars will be one of the next steps. This can only work when you are free to let foreign investment in, and then you can also export," he said.
"China is a very important market for us. I'm there every six weeks or so. It's so dynamic," he said. "The other topic I have with China is digitalization. China will be the lead market for digitalization, and we want to not only develop in China for China, but to develop from China to the world."
Frohlich said cooperation with BMW's partners in China is the key. "I think you have to understand China very well. It's very different from Europe, but for example on the new adjustment on our joint venture with Brilliance, we have a lot of support from the government. People from the local government are very supportive for our joint venture."
On Oct. 11, BMW announced it would invest more than 3 billion euros (3.4 billion U.S. dollars) in new and existing plant structures in China's northeastern city of Shenyang over the coming years. On the evening of the same day, China's Brilliance Auto announced it would sell a 25 percent stake to BMW. Upon completion of the transaction, BMW will hold a 75-percent stake in BMW Brilliance.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of China's reform and opening-up policy. Beijing has announced new measures to further open up the country's market for foreign investors, including easing restrictions on foreign ownership of auto joint ventures.
