Family-run firm joins German dash for Chinese growth

Despite predictions of green shoots of growth for 2025, Germany's economic slowdown has many of its small and mid-sized businesses looking abroad — and for an increasing number of them, that means China. CGTN visited one of those companies.

Nestled in the rolling hills of eastern Bavaria, the town of Amberg is home to Herding Filtration - a family-run firm with its sights firmly set on China.

Herding Filtration builds high-performance filter systems used across industries - from cleanrooms and chemicals to automotive and battery production.

It's part of a broader story: over the past decade, some of Germany's largest brands have made China a central part of their operations. And for many smaller firms, that path is no longer just an option - it's essential.

Trade between China and Germany was worth over 260 billion dollars last year alone. Herding's CEO, Dr Urs Herding, told CGTN that the company sees China as one of the world's markets with the highest growth potential.

"China is an important market for us," he said. "It depends on how you count it, but it's 10 to 15 percent of our turnover that is running over China. So it's a good and interesting market."

Herding began its journey in China in 1998 with a representative office in Beijing. When it was time to expand, Dr. Herding told us the firm turned to the German Centre Taicang, a support platform for German companies entering the Chinese market.

"We used the German Centre in Taicang when we founded our company," he said. "We said 'okay, we want to have our service and sales hub first', and then finally used it also to build up our first production steps in China."

Marieke Bossek, General Manager of German Centre Taicang told CGTN the center provides high-quality offices, legal support, and local connections to help German SMEs navigate a complex but lucrative market.

"The Chinese market is huge, and also the consumer market is huge and the demand is huge," said Bossek. "Even companies that are struggling say it's better to take the risk to go to China than not to go there and don't have the market at all."

The German Chamber of Commerce in China reports that over 5,000 German companies now operate in the country - and nearly half say their China business is more profitable than any other market. Herding has found that developing in China has benefited it in terms of global competitiveness.

From global giants to family-run firms, German businesses are turning to China — not simply to expand, but because it's the market that could decide their future.