Abstract—Industry 4.0, which we are currently in, is creating a new type of business environment. Europe is actively changing, which gives rise to the necessity for strong international partners; and it is precisely China that represents the major investor with an active interest in Industry 4.0. Industry 4.0 was created by the Federal German government to preserve the competitiveness of German industry in the long run. It is for precisely this reason that Germany becomes a dream partner for China. The necessity for studying the problems of the emerging close cooperation between Germany and China based on Industry 4.0 is vital not just for the European market but for global business as well because it will have a major influence on future economic and technological changes on a European level and a global level. China and Germany are among the largest economies in the world, but whereas Chinese industry is largely based on significantly low labor costs, German industry is based on continuous technical progress. In recent years Chinese industry has had an urgent need for the development of new and less labor-consuming manufacturing practices, which requires more automated machines and robots to be integrated in autonomous manufacturing structures. "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." (Chinese proverb)

Index Terms—Industry 4.0, Germany trade, China trade, digitalization, industrial software, internet of things, international standards, digital technology

Cite: Asya Grigorova Tsonkova, "The Cooperation between Germany and China for Industry 4.0," Journal of Industrial and Intelligent Information, Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 27-31, December 2020. doi: 10.18178/jiii.8.2.27-31

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