Shanghai/Heidenheim. In a festive ceremony, which was also attended by Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Vice Chancellor and Economics Affairs Minister, Voith has today opened the Voith China Training Center. The center for vocational training and further education in Kunshan (about 80 km north-west of Shanghai) is the largest training facility of the company outside Germany. Voith will be using it to train qualified employees for the Chinese market and thus significantly widen its local presence.

With the inauguration, Voith once again underlines the significance of China within its corporate strategy and strengthens its commitment in the Chinese market with the new building. "Over the next few years, China will evolve into one of the most important single markets for Voith. Voith would like to fully utilize the potential opportunities offered by this market and continue its success story in China, which has been going on for more than 100 years," said Dr. Hubert Lienhard, President and CEO of the Corporate Board of Management of Voith GmbH, in his welcoming address. "In order to successfully handle future growth, we need excellently trained experts from our own ranks."

German Economics Affairs Minister Sigmar Gabriel praised the commitment of Voith in China and pointed out: "Our dual vocational education system is a celebrated training model and a guarantor for the economic success of our country. Dual training and further vocational education play an important role when it comes to ensuring the next generation of qualified staff. This is also a major issue in China. The dual training system belongs undoubtedly to the things that constitute Germany's good reputation all over the world. And consequently, companies such as Voith safeguard the good reputation Germany enjoys in China with their excellent training schemes."

The investment volume of the Voith China Training Center amounts to about EUR 8.5 million (73 million Chinese RMB), of which about EUR 1.8 million are covered by the city of Kunshan. A new building with lecture rooms, meeting rooms, offices and a training workshop equipped to German standards has been created on an area of about 4,000 m².

With the Voith China Training Center, Voith will be introducing the dual vocational education system based on the German model in China. Following their theoretical training in secondary technical schools, the graduates will complete a comprehensive one-year practical internment at Voith and receive a vocational education that is specifically tailored to the requirements of an industrial company. Voith customers and partners of local companies may in future also utilize the Voith Training Center for the further qualification of their workforce. "We want to deeply root ourselves in China and become a Chinese company with German proprietors. This Training Center is a symbol of how much Voith is already at home here today with our nearly 3,500 employees at twelve Chinese locations.," said Lienhard.

The dual vocational training model is a proven tool for ensuring young talent in Germany. It makes an important contribution to the competitiveness of the industrial location Germany and has already been adopted by many countries. Voith has been training young people for more than 100 years. "The dual vocational training system according to the German model will ideally complement China's job qualification concepts and secure Voith a workforce of local young talent with excellent theoretical knowledge and practical know-how for years to come," said Mingming Liu, Executive Representative Voith Asia.

China and Germany have been closely cooperating in the field of vocational training for nearly 30 years. The two countries launched pilot programs for the introduction of the dual system in China from as early as the 1980s. In October 2010, both countries signed an agreement on the further cooperation in the field of vocational education.

Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 43,000 people, generates EUR 5.7 billion in sales, operates in over 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.