- Interview: Hartmut Heine on Hyperloop opportunities
- The premature demise of EV batteries
- EU Parliament with new strategy on China
- Ministry plans retaliatory bans on Chinese flights
- Emissions trading launched in China
- WHO calls for investigation of Wuhan labs
- TSMC expansion plans
- Section debut: Tools – Work and residence permits from abroad
- On the method of “xuéxí-ing”
When it comes to making business in China, we like to revel in nostalgia. Just like we do with the Western world, there is a sort of over-glorification of some distant “good old times”. But when exactly were these “good times?” Times, when the doors to the market opened without any government intervention, when friction with authorities and the public was nonexistent and Western companies could still rely on the rule of law? Hartmut Heine, our interview partner this Monday, tells us what manipulations and contortions were necessary to make a short Transrapid line a reality in Shanghai and how nerve-wracking it really was to do business with China in the past. But every technology has its time. Today, Heine wants to sell the Hyperloop, a modern form of the Maglev train inside a vacuum tube. He explains why it – somewhat paradoxically, has a better chance than conventional technology without a tube.
This example shows that something significant has changed since the first Transrapid line was introduced. “Back then, China had the big market and we had the technology,” says Heine. Today, China is technically on par and would prefer to serve its market itself. “We have to accept that the Chinese have their own ideas and want to implement them.”
The shift in technology is also creating new difficulties for individual mobility. Batteries for electric cars are filled to the brim with harmful chemicals. China is now inevitably taking a pioneering role in recycling: Lots of electric mobility equals lots of old batteries. Nico Beckert compares how the EU and China approach this upcoming problem.
Anyone who currently wants to travel from Europe to China has to face all manners of hoops and restrictions due to Covid. Many expatriates have therefore temporarily returned to their home country. In our new ‘Tools’ section, experts explain how to extend work permits from afar and what pitfalls lurk when it comes to residence permits. In future issues, our new ‘Tools’ section will answer questions regarding law, regulation and market access on a regular basis in China.Table.
I wish you a great and productive week!
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Interview
“Business was never easy in China”
Disclaimer: This interview was translated into English and is not considered an official translation by any party involved in the interview.
The Transrapid was already politically buried long ago, it was deemed undesirable. But now there are suddenly talks about the Transrapid 2.0, the Hyperloop, a magnetic levitation train that utilizes a vacuum tunnel to travel up to 800 kilometers per hour. How realistic is this?
It is very realistic. Climate change is forcing the world to reconsider because aircraft consume too much CO2 and the world is growing ever closer together. And with the Hyperloop, there is one key principle: The less air in the tunnel is, the less resistance the train meets, and as a result, less energy is being consumed. You can tell that this technology is once again gaining relevance by the fact that independent research and development is being carried out in the USA, in Europe, at Hardt Hyperloop, and in China, all at the same time. In the meantime, we have solved some of the technological problems that still existed with the Transrapid: Rail switches, for example, are now fully electronic and no longer mechanical. This means that they no longer require costly maintenance. They do not get stuck. This reduces operating costs.
Continue reading now
… and get free access to this Professional Briefing for a month.
Are you already a guest at the China.Table? Log in now