ThyssenKrupp and China: Close links through 140 years of business relations
Relations between the predecessors of ThyssenKrupp, the companies Thyssen and Krupp, and China go back to 1866 and are characterized by a mutual exchange of knowledge and experience.
1866
Influential circles at the Chinese court, led by Li Hong Zhang, advocate the establishment of a modern infrastructure, plan railway lines and shipping routes, the construction of the first iron and steel mill and further industrial operations. Li wants to reorganize the army along European lines. In particular he looks into cooperation with Germany. When a Chinese delegation visits Germany in 1866, the first contacts are made between Alfred Krupp and the Chinese visitors. On July 27, 1866, the men from the Far East visit the Krupp cast steel factory in Essen.
1870
The first contacts are followed by concrete projects. In 1870, Cologne merchant Friedrich Peil travels to China as sole representative of the company Fried. Krupp. Peil negotiates skillfully and in 1871 his company receives a contract to supply 318 cannons. In 1874, further munitions orders worth 150,000 talers follow. Li sends young Chinese officers to Germany for military training. One of them, Duan Qirui, will later become several-time Prime Minister of the Republic of China.
Li also needs material to build a railroad from Guangzhou via Hankou to Beijing. In 1886, Krupp supplies 1,500 tons of steel rails, followed shortly afterwards by machine parts and further railroad material.
Business relations with Thyssen begin in the same year. The Kassel-based company Henschel & Sohn (later Thyssen Henschel) supplies the first steam locomotive to be exported to the Empire from the West. Over a hundred more follow up to the mid-1930s.
1896
After the death of Alfred Krupp, the good relations with Li are maintained by Alfred’s son, Friedrich Alfred Krupp. In 1896, Li pays a visit to Krupp in Essen. He tours the cast steel factory as well as the Meppen weapons testing ground. Years later, Li expresses his appreciation in his memoirs: “Officially I am the guest of the German nation, but personally I am the guest of Mr. Krupp.”
1900
In the years that follow, Chinese envoys are frequent visitors to Krupp. The tradition continues under Gustav Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach, who worked as legation secretary in Beijing between 1900 and 1903 before his marriage to Bertha Krupp. In January 1910, a Chinese naval commission led by Prince Tsai Hsun visits the Krupp Germaniawerft shipyard in Kiel, the cast steel factory in Essen and the testing ground in Meppen. In June, a military commission follows. Relations then break off as a result of the First World War and political upheavals in China.
1934
Relations only pick up again in 1934. Krupp receives an order to supply ten superheated steam locomotives for the Tung-Pu Railway. In 1937, construction work begins on the Bank of China in Shanghai. Hundreds of tons of Krupp-Isteg steel are used in its building.
1955
Due to political circumstances there is a gap in relations lasting until 1955, when a first Krupp delegation travels to Beijing. A year later, Krupp begins supplying steel to China. From the mid-sixties, relations again intensify. Both Thyssen and Krupp regularly take part in the spring and fall trade fairs in Guangzhou. In 1966, Rheinstahl (later Thyssen Industries) exports a complete steel degassing facility to China. In the same year, and again in 1970, Rheinstahl Henschel delivers a total of 34 diesel locomotives to the People’s Republic.
1973
A year of special significance: in April, a German economic delegation travels to China. Together with representatives of Chinese government and business, it discusses ways to intensify business relations between Germany and China.
At the request of the Chinese government, the German delegation is headed by the then Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Fried. Krupp GmbH and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen und Halbach Foundation – Prof. Dr. Berthold Beitz. In a lively exchange of ideas, he and the Chinese Prime Minister Chou En-lai agree among other things to exchange experts in different specialist areas. After his return, Beitz is extremely positive about the trip: “We came as strangers, we go as friends.”
There follow further trips by German experts to the People’s Republic. In return, Chinese experts visit Thyssen and Krupp.
1974
In 1974, Thyssen decides to provide the know-how for a cold rolling mill being built by several German companies in Wuhan. In connection with the modernization of steelmaking and rolling mill facilities, Thyssen establishes intensive contacts with Shanghai Baoshan Iron and Steel Works.
1975
In 1975, both Thyssen and Krupp appear at Technogerma in Beijing, the first wide-ranging exhibition of German industry in China. A high-ranking government delegation led by the Deputy Prime Minister Li Xian Nian visits the Krupp booth. For Krupp, the 1980s are a decade marked by ever new orders from the People’s Republic.
1981
A complete plant to produce dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) is supplied. In 1984 it is followed by a contract to supply a casting-rolling line for copper wire. In 1985, Krupp receives an order to build two edible oil plants in the People’s Republic. High-ranking visits from China are also on the agenda in these years: in 1984 and 1986, the Deputy Prime Minister Li Peng is a guest at Krupp.
At the end of the 1980s, a new epoch in the history of cooperation begins. Now, foreign companies are allowed to hold majority stakes in joint ventures in the People’s Republic and even start up their own companies. In 1988, Krupp and The China Anshan Coking and Refractory Engineering Consulting Corp. (ACRE) set up the first joint venture. At the beginning of the 1990s, Thyssen also launches a joint venture with Chinese involvement. The company Shandong Thyssen Elevators Co. Ltd. is born, producing elevators and escalators. The joint venture age has begun.
1995
The Chinese State President Jiang Zemin visits Villa Hügel in Essen to view an exhibition called “Ancient China”, of which he is patron.
1999
Thyssen and Krupp merge. The new group pools its forces in China as well and continues the long-standing relationship of both predecessors to the People’s Republic.
Today
Today, ThyssenKrupp has 30 companies in China. 3,700 employees in the country generate sales of €1.1 billion. Our activities are focused on the manufacture and sale of stainless steel, hot-dip galvanized sheet, tailored blanks, elevators, escalators, machine tools, steering systems, body and chassis parts, camshafts and springs for the automotive industry.
