German companies clinch Chinese deals at Merkel-Li meeting

BERLIN (Reuters) - German companies signed a raft of agreements with Chinese partners at a meeting of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, according to a document seen by Reuters.

Chemicals giant BASF agreed with the government of Guangdong province on a plan for a new site in China, and business software maker SAP struck a strategic cooperation agreement with Suning Holdings Group, the document showed.

Siemens agreed with China's State Power Investment Co on joint development of a high-performance gas turbine, and with Alibaba Cloud Computing on a cooperation on an Internet of Things platform, it said.

 

Also, carmaker BMW struck a deal with China's Brilliance Group to expand their joint venture, while Volkswagen and China's Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding on a joint research and development centre and a car platform.

(Reporting by Andreas Rinke; Writing by Maria Sheahan; Editing by Christoph Steitz)