In the words of a report published by the German Asia-Pacific Business Association (OAV) in 2004, Hamburg is Europe's "leading business location for international trade with China." There are many factors why Hamburg has such a special relationship with China including that Shanghai has been twinned with Hamburg since 1986. The latter's role in the planning of the "Lingang New Town" district near Shanghai is a good example of that special relationship.

Over 400 Chinese businesses have a physical presence in Hamburg, making the city China's leading European business and investment hub. The volume of Hamburg's shipping traffic with China, always impressively high, has been increasing by nearly 30 per cent p.a. for many years. Hamburg occupies a central position on the shipping route between China and Northern, Central and Eastern Europe, functioning as the transit point and distribution hub for a high proportion of the container traffic between China and these regions.

International trade between Hamburg and China is also on the rise, with around € 5.7 billion worth of goods moving between Hamburg-based companies and China in 2005, an increase of nearly 50 percent since 2001. These figures do not include the transit trade passing through Hamburg and business transacted in China via branch offices of Hamburg-based firms.

The best example of the beginnings of this trend is the current upsurge in the number of Chinese companies establishing branches in Hamburg and the city is now home to the European headquarters of many shipping-oriented companies. For its own domestic development, China has come to rely on Hamburg-made products and Hamburg's expertise in the services sector.

It is also imperative that Hamburg takes a clear position on trade policy issues. Like few other regions of the world, Hamburg knows from experience that fair trade and observance of international standards and rules are the preconditions for prosperity for individuals, cities and nations. This has also been the German experience as a whole in recent years: economic growth would not have been possible without the country's strong export performance.