As one of the leading enterprises in northeast China, BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA) in Shenyang looks poised to benefit from the region's improving business environment. On October 11, German carmaker BMW and its Chinese partner Brilliance China Automotive Holdings Ltd. announced that they will continue their partnership until 2040. They also initiated the construction of a new BBA plant on the same day.

In an interview with China International Publishing Group, Dr. Johann Wieland, President and CEO of BBA, spoke about the ongoing development.

China Today: Why did BMW select Shenyang as a location and why has BBA become a vital production and research center over the past 15 years?

We have the right partner, which is crucial for success. We evaluated a number of possible alternatives and it turned out that Brilliance, Shenyang and Liaoning were the best choice for us. Why? In the car industry, you should not underestimate the need for a lot of talented and qualified people. Shenyang offered a highly qualified workforce. Brilliance also offered us facilities. And we've had strong support from the city of Shenyang and the province of Liaoning. These were the main reasons and it was the right decision. It has been a huge success over the past 15 years.

China.org.cn: BMW Brilliance has nurtured many suppliers in Shenyang. What role does BBA play in the development of the whole industry chain in Shenyang? How do you feel about the fact that, to some extent, BBA is also helping your competitors?

The BMW spirit is always to welcome competition. It is the wrong approach to think that "I want a supplier that only works for me." It's the same for the suppliers. Suppliers have to welcome competition because competition makes you stronger. In the end, competition benefits the customers as it drives value for money. This is part of BMW's DNA.

Most of the value added in car production comes from suppliers. BBA lives with the competition and uses it to deliver better value to customers. We have two rules. Rule number one, we want to work with the best; rule number two, we see our suppliers as partners who we want to make even better. This aligns with the targets of China because the government wants companies and suppliers to develop to a world-class standard. By cooperating with Chinese suppliers, we can help them to become world-class. Sustainable success is about creating win-win situations together. In this way, the BMW spirit and Chinese culture go so well together.

Beijing Review: What is your opinion, and can you give any examples, on optimizing the Chinese market and business environment in Shenyang? In which areas is there still a need for further optimization and what challenges have you encountered here?

I want to mention, in particular, the Government of Shenyang. Mayor Jiang Youwei is fully dedicated and has given us every support to create the infrastructure and move things forward. The cooperation is really outstanding.

I would like to mention one very specific issue we do face in northeast China. I'm happy that President Xi Jinping visited Shenyang in late September. He made it very clear that the city, the province, and also the companies, have to do everything they can to keep young talent in the northeast. There are a great number of engineering and tech universities in Dalian but you often see young talent leaving for Shanghai and the south, which is a serious challenge for the area. In early February, I had the opportunity to participate in a consultation with Premier Li Keqiang and I proposed that we must work hard to keep the talent in the local area.

The car industry is becoming more digitalized so development requires skills such as coding and software engineering. We are working with universities to offer scholarships, common projects and Ph.D. programs. We have to get them interested and pull them into our company. With regard to the qualification of certain skills, the approach in Germany is really outstanding. Vocational programs help young people gain work experience while studying in school. We have implemented this in Shenyang. But we need to continue doing this together to retain talent in the northeast.

Beijing Review: What highlights or benefits does the new BBA plant in Shenyang have in terms of high-end manufacturing?

The most important aspect for our production is that it will be fully flexible. We can produce combustion engine cars, hybrid engine cars, and battery electric vehicles on the same production line. So if necessary, we could build 100-percent battery electric vehicles. With full flexibility, we can produce what the customer wants.

The BMW production strategy is always to be a leader in production technology, meaning we use digitalization to realize the highest productivity at the highest quality. We can fully simulate and improve the physical production process by using digital technologies. Flexibility and digitalization--this we call smart manufacturing.

We are also dedicated to sustainability. We implement technologies that have a minimal negative impact on the environment. We try to minimize our water waste, emissions, and energy consumption. We want to be a role model when it comes to smart, green manufacturing.

Copyedited by Craig Crowther

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